Lenders want more volume in H2 — without adding headcount

🏖️ Hellooo, we made it to Friday! Today’s newsletter is 729 words, a 3-minute read.

1. Lenders want more volume in H2 — without adding headcount

89% of lenders surveyed by The Mortgage Collaborative expect origination volume to rise in the second half of 2026, but most plan to squeeze that growth out of existing teams rather than expand.

Three-quarters said their primary strategy is increasing production from current sales staff, and 86% named reducing per-loan production costs as their top operational priority.

On AI: 83% are evaluating tools across their businesses but only 17% have deployed anything in live production. The top barrier is trust — 25% don't trust AI-generated output enough to depend on it, and nearly half flagged fair-lending risk in automated decisioning as a concern.

2. How down payments vary by generation

The overall median planned down payment across 130,000+ mortgage purchase inquiries is $55,000 — but that number looks very different depending on who's buying. Here's how down payment plans break down by generation:

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3. More Nuggets

🔊 Movement Mortgage launches bilingual lending team. (Movement)

💼 USDA moves forward with mandatory relocation despite pushback. (KMA Land)

💻 As CCM is poised to win the TWO bidding war, an integration test awaits. (HousingWire)

📊 How top originators are winning purchase business in 2026. (NMP)

4. Trump's CFPB nominee pledges "open mind" on mass firings at confirmation hearing

Brian Johnson, Trump's pick to lead the CFPB, told the Senate Banking Committee he would not prejudge plans to fire most of the agency's remaining staff, but stopped short of committing to the cuts. He's the third nominee Trump has put forward for the role — the previous two were withdrawn.

Johnson is a former CFPB official from Trump's first term and currently works in credit card compliance at Capital One.

Ethics questions surfaced immediately: Capital One and Zelle — both regulated by the CFPB — were among the enforcement actions Vought dropped during his 18-month tenure. Johnson has agreed to recuse himself from Capital One matters for two years and will forfeit up to $500,000 in unvested shares.

5. Mortgage servicer satisfaction is up, even as borrower stress rises

Overall servicer satisfaction rose 11 points to 607 out of 1,000 in J.D. Power's 2026 study, driven by improvements in digital tools, escrow communication, and issue resolution. Chase ranked first at 694, followed by Rocket at 690 and Bank of America at 672.

The backdrop is less rosy. Only 41% of borrowers were classified as financially healthy, down from 52% in 2022. Sixteen percent incurred a late fee in the past year, and 30% believe they are at risk of foreclosure — nearly double the 17% who felt that way four years ago.

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Monday!

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