Lender and Broker Services, Products, and Software

“What would 50-100 bps more per jumbo loan mean for your team? Winning in today’s market takes more than price, but having a competitive bid still matters. Give your loan officers a strong start to 2026 with access to aggressive Jumbo pricing from an insurance-capital buyer available to many originators exclusively through the MAXEX platform. We’re seeing pricing come in 50–100 bps better than what many originators have access to today. Leverage your existing AUS workflow while tapping into best-execution pricing from multiple Jumbo investors, all through a single MAXEX contract. Already approved on MAXEX? Even better: This buyer is available to you at no additional cost. Want to stay competitive in 2026? See how MAXEX can help and connect with a representative to get started. Join our monthly webinars to stay up to date with all the latest from MAXEX.”

“Your customers’ experience, loan portfolio health, and subservicer performance demand visibility and certainty. You can’t just trust that your needs are met, you must verify as well. That’s why you need a partner committed to full transparency. At Servbank, what you see is what you get. Servbank provides 24/7 access to your entire portfolio through our award-winning SIME technology. You get real-time, on-demand data in your preferred format with a single click. Built for clarity and ease of use, SIME eliminates outdated systems and unnecessary complexity. Servbank makes it simple to verify while also exceeding expectations… Your satisfaction is our priority. At Servbank, we’re committed to openness, honesty, and above all our compliance stamp of approval. Click here to partner with the nation’s premier bank subservicer.”

A free eGuide making the rounds among lenders right now tackles one of the more common questions in mortgage tech: how to evaluate all the new “AI powered” POS claims showing up in the market. LenderLogix recently published The Mortgage Lender’s Guide to Evaluating AI Powered POS Solutions, and it has been getting passed around by teams reviewing POS options and vendor roadmaps. The eGuide walks through what lenders should be looking for in an AI POS, along with common red flags and a lender friendly checklist you can use during demos or vendor reviews. For those looking for a clearer way to sort through AI claims before sitting through vendor pitches, the guide can be accessed here.

The Chrisman Marketplace is a centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the mortgage industry to be viewed by lenders in a very cost-effective manner. We’re adding new providers daily, so check back often to see what’s new. To reserve your place or learn more, contact us at info@chrismancommentary.com.

Ways of Thinking About Current Mortgage Topics

Underwriting is often viewed as a rules-based function. But in reality, it sits at the intersection of data, risk, and human narrative. Drawing on experience across credit unions, IMBs, banks, and non-QM lending, Magda DeMauro explains why flexibility, education, and empathy are becoming more, not less, essential as housing types diversify and AI reshapes workflows. While automation will drive speed and consistency, sustainable homeownership still depends on underwriters who can interpret context, assess marketability, and balance innovation with discipline: Thought Leadership on Underwriting.

As mortgage executives plan for a market that refuses to settle, Ira Selwin explains why success depends on resilient operating models rather than directional bets on rates. From hedging discipline and loan limit mechanics to the growing role of home equity lending and servicing driven retention, the piece outlines how leaders can balance macro uncertainty with precise execution. The conclusion is clear. The market does not reward guessing. It rewards structure, discipline, and readiness for whatever direction comes next: Thought Leadership on Operating Models.

Conventional Conforming News

Yes, large investors and wholesale buyers follow agency guidelines. They’ve felt market share pressure from the non-QM and non-Agency sector in terms of prices and guidelines. Yet the market still follows Freddie and Fannie.

By the way, a big difference between “Agency” loans and “non-Agency” loans, like non-QM are the g-fee hits that the FHFA collects through Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Most of those fees go toward Agency profits although other “stuff” benefits from the fees, like some transportation tax from many years ago that is covered by gfees. For an update on those fees. Check out https://www.fhfa.gov/document/gfee-report-2024.pdf or https://www.fhfa.gov/reports/single-family-guarantee-fees/2024.

Learn what servicers need to know to confidently service the new HomeStyle® Refresh mortgage, which expands renovation financing to support a wide range of home improvements. View Fannie Mae Announcement SVC-2025-07.

Prevent defects, reduce repurchase requests, and support financial resiliency by monitoring industry trends on defect categories and repurchases. Fannie Mae Single-Family Loan Acquisition and Repurchase Trend Report aggregates information and insights to help you evaluate your loan quality results.

Freddie Mac announced that its offer to investors to exchange certain eligible Gold PCs and Giant PCs for TBA-eligible and non-TBA-eligible mirror securities will close on December 18, 2026.

Fannie Mae Servicing has new resources available to help you navigate and simplify your adoption of upcoming policy and operational changes. The most recent Lender Letter references new loss mitigation and liquidation reporting requirements.

Capital Markets

We learned yesterday that the U.S. economy grew at a robust 4.3 percent annualized rate in the third quarter, its fastest pace in two years and up from 3.8 percent previously, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, exceeding nearly all survey forecasts.

The delayed report followed recent government data releases disrupted by the government shutdown, including inflation figures showing a surprise drop to a four-year low that some economists questioned (the Chrisman anecdotal index shows strain on pockets is at an all-time high…). More recent indicators were less upbeat, however, as Conference Board data showed consumer confidence fell for a fifth straight month in December, the longest decline since 2008, amid persistent worries over inflation and tariffs.

More timely indicators were mixed: October durable goods orders disappointed, falling 2.2 percent, with softer ex-transportation growth and slower core shipments, though core capital goods orders and shipments still beat expectations, offering some support for Q4 growth. Labor data showed cooling but still positive hiring, with ADP estimating weekly job gains of 11.5k through early December. Markets reacted modestly, but Treasury yields moved higher, with the 10-year climbing back toward the key 4.20 percent level following the GDP and durables releases. The U.S. Treasury followed Monday's weak 2-year note sale with a 5-year note offering that was also slightly disappointing, but record direct takedown prevented a worse outcome

Today’s economic calendar kicked off with mortgage applications falling 5.0 percent for the week ending December 19, with declines across both purchase (-4 percent) and refinance (-6 percent) activity, despite slightly lower mortgage rates. While applications were notably higher than a year ago (up 16 percent for purchases and 110 percent for refinances) overall volume declined in the week. The MBA expects ongoing headwinds from a softening labor market, sticky inflation, elevated housing inventory, and steady mortgage rates to continue into the new year.

We’ve also received weekly jobless claims (214k, less than expected; 1.923 million continuing). Later today brings several Treasury auctions that will be headlined by $44 billion 7-year notes, and Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. For the early close ahead of Christmas, futures will settle at 1:00pm ET, followed by cash bonds at SIFMA-recommended 2:00pm ET. We begin Christmas Eve with Agency MBS prices unchanged from Tuesday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.53, and the 10-year yielding 4.16 after closing Tuesday at 4.17 percent. Merry Christmas!