Mbs Pooling, Crm, Processing Tools; Second, Heloc, Itin, Jumbo Product News; Builder Ceo Survey

Overheard in the hallways at last week’s MBA conference: “At my age, instead of a condom I carry a moist towelette in my wallet. At my age, I run into buffalo wings far more often than sex.” There is always news in our biz (like rumors of Guild and Bayview, layoffs at nCino), but the industry, age jokes aside, continues to talk about the topics that were discussed last week. A fair amount of talk suggests that Freddie and Fannie’s influence and market share is waning and moving to non-QM investors with their “can do” attitudes, although both F&F are still relevant. Fannie Mae, for example, will announce a new initiative to combat mortgage fraud in the U.S. housing market this morning. Freddie Mac recently reported that repurchases are steady. It is generally agreed that market conditions are tough, although when surveyed, 18 public builder CEOs maintain an optimistic long-term outlook for the new-home market despite a slower-than-typical spring selling season and muted traffic in the first quarter. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Calque. Calque provides a binding backup offer on your borrower’s departing residence to clear the existing mortgage balance and closing costs in 48 business hours or less. And it costs less than other buy before you sell solutions. Hear an interview with HomeLight’s Nick Friedman on how lenders are navigating a challenging market shaped by recession fears, rising tariffs, buyer hesitation, and the resurgence of creative tools like buydowns and seller concessions to keep deals moving.)