Resilient, Resourceful, Ready

Adapting to the changing mortgage market with fresh strategies and forward momentum

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Executive Vice President

Happy new year!

I’m writing this column having just returned from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Annual Convention and Expo, where I was inspired by the many mortgage women I met. Each of them is hoping for new momentum in 2025, and MBA’s predictions are encouraging. At this writing, the association projects $2.3 trillion in mortgage origination volume in 2025 compared to an estimated $1.79 trillion in 2024. By loan count, volume should rise 28% year over year.

The MBA warns, though, that we’re still navigating a challenging purchase market. We’re not going back to the time when we were flooded with refi requests, and it was all we could do to keep up. But successful mortgage women have never been complacent during the good times, knowing that our industry cycles up and down. They’re resourceful, gritty, and focused on opening new opportunities, even during the fiercest headwinds.

Among the avenues that bolster them are:

Product diversification, which has enabled them to stay relevant. Some have expanded into adjacent areas like student loan refinancing — not only providing a new revenue stream, but making it possible for college graduates with student debt to finally afford a home. Others have built out their Non-QM/Non-Agency mortgage offerings, such as DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) loans, which help support the business-purpose investors who have flooded the market. Reverse mortgages, personal loans, and microloans are other products that keep their offerings fresh and relevant.

“Rescuing” consumers before they ask: Other mortgage women — both servicers and lenders — are proactively reaching out to borrowers at the first sign that they might need a helping hand. This is not only drawing these borrowers closer; it’s also helping them prevent the fallout from non-performing loans. For example, as property tax assessments and homeowners insurance costs skyrocket, they’re referring borrowers to providers of property tax reviews and appeals, or insurance brokers who can potentially help them find more affordable policies.

The MBA projects $2.3 trillion in mortgage origination volume in 2025 compared to an estimated $1.79 trillion in 2024.

Prioritizing risk management: Women leaders of IMBs (independent mortgage banks) don’t need reminders of the profit pressures they’re under; they’re using smart risk management practices to deal with them. For example, they’re exceeding the GSEs’ already stringent quality control (QC) review standards to prevent costly loan buybacks.

Moving from fixed to variable costs: Savvy mortgage women have shifted some of their costs from fixed to variable to account for the mortgage market’s unpredictability. From loan diligence to marketing, there are many functions they can expand or contract as needed.

These are just a few of their strategies. In the following pages of this “Ask the Experts” section, you’ll find more ideas that are propelling other mortgage women forward, and strengthening our entire industry.