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Holiday Wrapping
By Jeff Walton & Kelly Guest
Existing home sales numbers reveal a three-month streak of increases, indicating the housing market is showing signs of life – however anemic. Brokers showed some happy thoughts about 2026 as everyone falls deeper into their cookie comas this Christmas week. Have a safe and wonderful holiday!
Table of Contents
CHATTER
Fannie & Freddie to Become Great American Mortgage Corporation? (NMN)
That offering for an entity that Pulte and Trump have called the Great American Mortgage Corporation "could be as early as the end of 2025," Pulte said in an X post. Pulte, who heads the entity traditionally known as the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has a practice of using social media to make early announcements about policy inclinations.
Barney & Chris Write a Letter
Lawsuit to Save CFPB: Dodd & Frank Dusted Off to Support
Democratic lawmakers filed an amicus brief to challenge Russell Vought’s interpretation of the bureau’s funding and subsequent plans to exponentially shrink the agency. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd popped up to support the effort to keep the offspring of their massive bill intact.
Blast From the Past or New & Improved?
DSCR Comeback Next Year? (HW)
Demand for debt-service-coverage ratio (DSCR) loans grew in 2025 as tight housing inventory and a rising share of nontraditional wage earners pushed more borrowers toward alternative products.
Rocket Pro rolled out its own DSCR product in anticipation of an increase in demand.
Optimism Up: AD Mortgage Mortgage Professionals Pulse Report & 2026 Outlook
68.9% of brokers said 2025 was better than 2024; 21.9% said it was worse, 9.2% said “about the same.”
84.5% expect loan volume to increase in 2026
Top challenge: Economic and Market Conditions
Borrower Hesitation Driver: Rates
Which Borrower Groups are Expected to Lead? Brokers expect refinance clients to play the biggest role in 2026 (37.1%), followed by first- time buyers (26 .9%) and Non- QM borrowers (23. 3%). Investor activity is seen as a smaller but still meaningful segment at 12 .7 % . This mix points to a diversified borrower landscape with notable strength in refis and Non- QM.
Harvard Takes a Swipe…
What’s Between the Lines? Harvard JCHS Says Weaker Immigration Will Dampen Originations
Harvard issued a correction to a recent paper on future homeownership rates and household growth by tenure. The Joint Center for Housing Studies took a shot at the Trump administration saying when describing the correction involving immigration, saying, “But over the past year, administrative actions have led immigration to drop to much lower levels than previously expected, causing the Congressional Budget Office and others who estimate immigration levels to reduce their projections. Because of this shift, we have published an addendum that applies the paper’s three homeownership-rate scenarios to a second population baseline: the Census Bureau’s low-immigration projection.”
FICO Claims to Increase Transparency, Efficiency:
FICO announced the addition of two new participants in its FICO® Mortgage Direct License Program through strategic partnerships with Cotality and Ascend Companies.
The FICO® Mortgage Direct License Program empowers participating tri-merge resellers to generate and deliver FICO® Scores directly to lenders. This innovative program streamlines score delivery and introduces flexible pricing models, helping lenders reduce costs while maintaining compliance and the accuracy of credit decisions—creating a more efficient, competitive mortgage lending environment.
Fixing Financial Crisis Hangover? Senator Looking Into Zombie Seconds NMN
In a request sent to the independent monitor responsible for oversight of the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement, Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked for delivery of records associated with the second mortgages eliminated under terms of the agreement.
Warren suggested the banks involved may have agreed to the settlement and then turned around and sold those same loans, dubbed "zombie seconds," to debt collectors. The request cited recent news headlines of attempted foreclosures on liens that many homeowners had forgotten existed.
MOVING & SHAKING
Freddie Mac named Deloitte Consulting alum Kenny Smith as CEO ahead of assumed IPO. Interim CEO Michael Hutchins will remain as president.
HUD Announces Confirmations: Senate confirmed Frank Cassidy as Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner; Joseph Gormley was confirmed as President of Ginnie Mae
ARDRI named Wesley Olison VP of wholesale production to drive non-QM growth.
Betternamed Barry Feierstean COO.
MARKET/INDUSTRY
Good News with Some Global Glitches: Bill Bodnar gives some behind the scenes insight into the global aspect of the bond market in his latest Master the Markets segment.
Mortgage Rates Drop Slightly: Freddie 12-18-25
Mortgage Applications Decreased 3.8% from One Week Earlier: MBA Weekly Survey for the week ending 12-12-25.
Icky Equity
Cotality Q3 Home Equity Report
The average U.S. homeowner lost approximately $13,400 in equity during the past year, but that still leaves the average borrower with about $299,000 in accumulated home equity.
Total homeowner equity for borrowers with a mortgage totaled $17.1T in the third quarter of 2025.
Existings Eek Up for 3rd Straight Month: NAR EHS 11-25
Month Over Month
0.5% increase in existing-home sales – seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million in November
5.9% decrease in unsold inventory – 1.43 million units equal to 4.2 months' supply
Year Over Year
1.0% decrease in existing-home sales
1.2% increase in median existing-home sales price to $409,200
"Existing-home sales increased for the third straight month due to lower mortgage rates this autumn. However, inventory growth is beginning to stall. With distressed property sales at historic lows and housing wealth at an all-time high, homeowners are in no rush to list their properties during the winter months." - NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
Flipping Report – Q3 2025: ATTOM Data
Profit margins from home flipping have been on a long-term downward trend. After delivering returns in the 40–60% range for more than a decade of the post-2009 period, margins have now remained in the low-20% range for five consecutive quarters. This reflects rising acquisition costs and increasingly constrained upside for investors. Read about the top ten states with the highest share of home flipping activity.