Property Data, Construction Products; Webinars and Training; STRATMOR on Operational Readiness
Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders
Curious when a shift from best efforts to mandatory delivery makes sense or how to sharpen an existing hedging strategy? Optimal Blue’s Hedging 101: The Benefits of Mandatory Delivery offers a clear look at the fundamentals that shape effective secondary marketing execution. In this Jan. 27 session, industry leaders Jim Glennon, SVP of hedging and trading operations, and Brad Eskridge, capital markets solutions specialist, will cover the core principles of hedging, available tools, and key operational and economic considerations when choosing mandatory delivery over best efforts. You’ll also see how Optimal Blue’s hedge advisory, analytics, and modeling support more confident, data‑driven decisions. Whether you are evaluating a move to mandatory or refining your current approach, join us on Jan. 27 at 12 p.m. CT to see how a stronger, more confident hedging approach can enhance your execution. Register today.
Planet has strengthened its correspondent sales team with the addition of Scott Henley, a mortgage industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience across correspondent, retail, and capital markets. Supporting correspondent partners across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Colorado, Scott brings a practical, informed perspective shaped by experience on all sides of the table and helps lenders align delivery strategies with their business goals. That approach is supported by Planet’s correspondent platform, which offers competitive pricing, broad product offerings, and flexible execution across best efforts, mandatory, and AOT. Lenders can deliver through flow, bulk, and all co-issue options using a fast, highly automated process designed to reduce friction and support scalable growth. Meet Scott Henley and Jason Mac Gloan, SVP of Correspondent Sales, at Texas MBA Southern Secondary next month in Houston, or connect directly to discuss your correspondent strategy. Scott Henley (469-498-1783) or Jason Mac Gloan (843-625-6869). Learn more.
APB Wholesale’s One-Time Close Construction loans are redefining construction financing for borrowers, whether they’re building their dream home, next investment property, or doing a major renovation on an existing home. Broad range of loan programs covers full-doc and alt-doc, including DSCR options for investment properties, and P&L and Bank Statement options for self-employed borrowers! These loan programs combine construction and permanent financing into one loan, with one approval and one closing, regardless of whether it’s a primary home, second home, or investment property. Flexible loan programs include options to qualify borrowers with profit and loss statements, bank statements, and even future rents in qualified scenarios. Supported by APB Wholesale’s experienced construction loan specialists, this program moves your borrowers from building concepts to completion – faster and easier. Become an Approved Broker to Get Started. Visit apbwholesale.com. APB Wholesale is the wholesale arm of American Pride Bank’s mortgage division. Equal Housing Lender. For industry professionals only. Not intended or directed at consumers. NMLS #402598
“Kicking off 2026, Citi Correspondent Lending is eager to build on the momentum of a very successful 2025, maintaining focus on fostering growth and delivering meaningful new and enhanced opportunities for our Sellers. We're excited to have introduced this past week the first of a series of planned enhancements designed to unlock opportunities to grow your business and potentially deepen our shared market reach. Our Non-Agency Jumbo program’s credit expansion features increased maximum loan amounts for both primary and second home transaction types, plus an increased cash-out limit for refinance transactions. We encourage you to connect with your Account Executive to explore how these, in addition to Citi’s comprehensive offerings, can best support your unique strategic goals. New clients are always welcome to complete our questionnaire. Please stay tuned: we have much more planned for a strong and successful 2026!”
“In today’s highly competitive mortgage market, every decision counts. Having access to comprehensive, reliable data is not only a want but a need for lenders looking to make smarter, more strategic decisions to get ahead of the competition. That’s where we come in. ICE can help you stand out by delivering robust data paired with the clarity, confidence, and insights you need to help drive your business forward. Our suite of nationwide property data covers 99.99 percent of all U.S. properties, across 3,100 counties, providing you with a complete view of the property landscape. Further, because of ICE’s commitment to data quality, you gain access to information directly from the source, with rigorous validation processes applied so you always have accurate, reliable, and current data at your fingertips. Whether you're focused on market‑share analysis, prospecting, portfolio retention or optimizing your operations, ICE’s Property Data delivers the insights you need to perform, and compete, with confidence. Learn more 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.
STRATMOR on Operational Readiness
Loan volume will return… The question is whether lenders will be operationally ready when it does. In his latest Customer Experience Tip, STRATMOR Director of Customer Experience Mike Seminari explains why strong borrower experiences aren’t driven by heroic loan officers alone, but by consistent processes, clear expectation-setting, and real-time feedback embedded across the organization.
Today’s borrowers still value personal relationships, but their tolerance for breakdowns, surprises, and missed commitments is shrinking. Lenders that use this cycle to hardwire CX into their operating model will be best positioned to scale smoothly, protect pull-through, and generate repeat and referral business when demand rebounds. Read the full article.
Webinars and Training
Don’t want to dress up… or even leave the house? Tune in from your couch!
Today at noon PT there’s The Big Picture featuring Erin Dee joining Rich Swerbinsky and Rob Chrisman to discuss what is working operationally at scale in today’s market. The conversation also looks at what Texas is seeing now that may foreshadow broader industry trends.
The Fix and Flip business is a hot topic to kick off 2026. Join OSC Insurance Services for “Become Fearless in the Fix and Flip Business” webinar on Thursday, January 22nd at 2 P.M. EST. Stay on top of the most relevant industry buzz at the beginning of the year.
National MI January 2026 webinar sessions, brought to you by National MI University.
How to Spark Momentum & Hit Goals in 2026 with Kendra Lee: January 22 @ 1 pm ET.
Join Freddie Mac servicing team on Thursday, January 22, from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. ET, for an important Servicer Information Session. Topics will include the latest policy updates, a preview of future announcements and emerging innovations, and a live question and answer segment.
On tomorrow’s Last Word at 10AM PT, the weekly roundtable returns with Christy Soukhamneut, Coby Hakalir, Kevin Peranio, and Brian Vieaux. The group breaks down market signals, agency developments, and what the industry got right and wrong over the past week.
There are the National MI, ARCH MI, MGIC, Essent, Radian, and Enact training calendars.
Capital Markets
With many lenders offering sub-6 percent rates, even as rates tick back up, execution strategy matters more than ever. Mandatory loan sale delivery often unlocks greater execution and profitability with a typical 10–50 basis point pickup over best efforts when managed effectively. In MCT’s blog post, Introduction to Mandatory Loan Sale Delivery, Senior Trader Ron Happell explains the risk management frameworks, hedging strategies, and precise pull-through rate calculations that protect lenders from market and fallout risk while driving higher margins. "Factors like inconsistent pull-through, renegotiations, and other issues, what we call 'leakage', can reduce the pickup over best efforts," describes Happell. This post also covers the differences between best efforts and mandatory delivery, how to hedge with TBAs, and the operational adjustments needed for success. Read the practical guide for lenders evaluating the move to mandatory delivery as part of your strategic risk management plan.
Rates rallied and "sell America" trades unwound after President Trump’s speech in Davos, which was scant on actual details, but eased some earlier tensions (read: today’s market movement is anyone’s guess). The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.25 percent, the 5-year yield dropped to 3.82 percent, and the 2-year was mostly unchanged, narrowing the gap between short-term and long-term Treasury rates…a sign that investors were more willing to buy longer-dated bonds. Mortgage-backed securities also rose in price, especially the bonds most commonly tied to new home loans, which benefited the most from the rate move. One caveat is that trading activity slowed down, suggesting some investors stepped to the sidelines even as prices improved. The U.S. Treasury reopened $13 billion in 20-year bonds to good demand, seeing some additional buying ahead of the close after President Trump said that he has agreed on a framework for a security deal involving Greenland and the entire Arctic region with the secretary general of NATO.
Alongside events in Davos, markets are closely watching the Supreme Court for signals on Trump’s tariff authority and Fed independence, with rulings expected at “judicial speed” rather than the White House’s rapid policy cadence, reinforcing near-term headline risk. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has spent much of 2025 allowing President Trump to assert greater control over independent agencies, but it signaled clear hesitation about extending that logic to the Federal Reserve. During oral arguments, even Trump-appointed justices warned that firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook could undermine the Fed’s independence and destabilize financial markets. And speaking of the Fed, with little impactful economic data ahead and inflation still drifting toward the Fed’s target, further curve steepening is favored. My trader friends would remind us that “resistance near 72–75 basis points in 2s/10s spread could cap progress unless broken decisively, leaving investor conviction constrained until greater political and legal clarity emerges.”
On the data front, construction spending edged down 0.6 percent in September before rebounding 0.5 percent in October, leaving overall activity largely flat since August, with private residential improvements driving much of the October gain. While some segments like data centers, power, transportation, and public works outperformed, most categories declined, reflecting the ongoing drag from high interest rates and economic uncertainty. Year-over-year, total construction spending was down 1.0 percent, and private outlays suggest continued near-term weakness in residential and structures investment, even as the Fed’s rate cuts provide some support for building activity. Homebuilder sentiment remains weak despite slightly lower mortgage rates, with the NAHB index falling to 37 in January, reflecting soft demand, low buyer traffic, and continued reliance on incentives. Structural factors (i.e., years of ultra-low rates, underbuilding, restrictive zoning, and high construction costs) have created a persistent shortage and affordability crunch, limiting near-term homebuilding and keeping existing-home supply tight.
December data (January 2026 factor date) show Ginnie Mae II 30-year aggregate speeds ticking up 3 percent to a 12.4 one-month CPR, with slower prepayments in the 5.0 percent to 6.0 percent coupons and faster speeds elsewhere, underscoring the very different dynamics of VA versus FHA loans. VA streamline refinancing continues to drive materially faster speeds than FHA, especially in 5.5 percent and higher coupons, even though those coupons make up only 30 percent of outstanding balances, making servicer behavior critical. Across coupons, Rocket/Quicken is the most consistently fast payer in both VA and FHA pools, with Planet and loanDepot also prominent in VA, while Navy Federal, PHH, and Idaho HFA frequently appear among the slowest. Viewed through the aging curve, Mr. Cooper and NewRez lead VA speeds at the front end, while Amerihome dominates FHA, reinforcing that prepayment risk is concentrated in specific servicers, coupons, and WALA buckets rather than evenly distributed across the stack.
Today’s economic calendar kicked off with the previously delayed final look at Q3 GDP (+4.4 percent, as expected) and PCE reports (+2.9 percent Q/Q, as expected) for October and November, as well as weekly jobless claims (200k, about as expected). Later today brings Kansas City Fed manufacturing for January, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, and Treasury announcing month-end supply sizes before auctioning $21 billion of 10-year TIPS and conducting a buyback in 10- to 20-year coupons for up to $2 billion. Before the open, Norges Bank was out with its latest monetary policy decision, keeping its policy rate unchanged at 4.00 percent. Earnings also continue from Wall Street. We begin Thursday with Agency MBS prices unchanged from Wednesday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.60, and the 10-year yielding 4.25 after closing Wednesday at 4.25 percent.