Behind every mortgage rate, every lock extension, and every borrower question, there is a hidden world of precision, strategy, and high-stakes timing that few ever see. For most borrowers, asking for an extension feels casual. Can I have a few extra days? Maybe a week? In the retail world, it is almost a courtesy. In the world of institutional finance, where Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America operate, time is currency. Every hour counts. Every day matters. Whe

Although it did nothing to UWM's stock price yesterday,  United Wholesale Mortgage and Two Harbors Investment Corp. (“TWO”), an MSR-focused REIT and one of the largest servicers of conventional mortgages in the country announced that they have entered into  a definitive merger agreement  pursuant to which UWM will acquire TWO in an all-stock transaction for $1.3 billion in equity value. What does it mean for the industry? The STRATMOR Group put some perspective on the UWM acq

In an industry accustomed to turbulence, the current mortgage environment presents a peculiar contradiction. Lenders and capital markets teams express an uneasy confidence, aware that even a sure thing in today’s environment can shift overnight. The result is a paradoxical moment in which everyone knows what might happen, yet few genuinely trust it. I'm focused on staying optimally hedged and hoping only for calm. Movement up or down matters less than avoiding volatility. Thi

After several years defined by volatility, scarcity, and historically high borrowing costs, the mortgage industry enters 2026 with something it hasn’t had in a while: a cautious, but genuine, sense of optimism. That sentiment was palpable at the MBA Annual conference, where the collective mood reflected a meaningful shift from the exhaustion of 2023 and the grinding uncertainty that clouded 2024. Lenders, economists, and market participants seemed aligned in a shared belief t

In an era defined by locked-in mortgage rates and frozen inventory, an old mechanism in American housing finance has suddenly reentered the conversation: the assumable mortgage. It is an idea that feels almost quaint, yet it sits at the center of some of the current debates about affordability, consumer rights, and the role of government in modern housing markets. To understand why assumability is back in the spotlight, it helps to start with what the feature actually is. At

The Strategic Rise of Mortgage Servicing For decades, mortgage servicing sat quietly in the background...essential, yes, but rarely viewed as the heartbeat of mortgage banking. It was historically perceived as a post-closing administrative function: collect payments, manage escrow, and stay out of trouble. Today, that world is gone. Servicing has become one of the most strategically important assets in the mortgage ecosystem, a growth engine for originators, a competitive dif

The mortgage industry is once again revisiting products and practices that many thought had been relegated to the past. Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), for example, are resurfacing...not because they are “evil,” as some headlines teasingly suggest, but because the yield-curve dynamics and affordability challenges of this cycle naturally push them back into relevance. When recessionary pressures build, the curve steepens, short-term rates ease, and borrowers begin re-examini

A proposal to introduce 50-year fixed-rate mortgages into the U.S. housing market has reignited debate over how best to address the nation’s affordability crisis. Proponents argue that longer loan terms could make homeownership accessible to more Americans by lowering monthly payments. However, a closer analysis reveals that the product offers limited real savings, significant long-term costs, and structural challenges for investors and the secondary market. The 50-year mortg

As Jerome Powell’s term as Federal Reserve Chair nears its conclusion in May of next year, attention is shifting to who will lead the central bank into its next phase, and what that leadership could mean for the mortgage industry. The finalists reportedly include current Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, and BlackRock executive Rick Rieder. Each brings distinct s

Earlier this year, around the time tariffs were originally announced on "Liberation Day," bonds were defying logic and leaving even seasoned traders scratching their heads. Today, things make a little more sense, but only just. Yields have fallen, MBS price discovery is less of a problem, and a clearer trading range has developed, yet investors are still wrestling to interpret a Federal Reserve that seems both cautious and conflicted. At the heart of this story lies the term

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Legal drama, economic uncertainty, shifting rate expectations, and nuanced capital market discussions, all playing out against a stagnant...

The announcement by the Trump Administration to potentially take Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public has reignited a complex and often...

The Federal Reserve, the “central bank” of the United States, does not set mortgage rates. That said, mortgage rates do indeed tend to...

This article was contributed by Prime Lending . Wouldn’t it be easier if you could roll out of bed, throw on your robe and slippers, grab...

Jerome Powell’s latest press conference as Federal Reserve Chair was among the most combative of his tenure, marked by a barrage of...