For much of the past decade, mortgage banking prospered by riding favorable rate cycles. That era is over. After several years of rate volatility, margin compression and historic workforce reductions, the industry has entered what can only be described as a great operational reboot.
Today’s path to profitability is no longer driven by market tailwinds — it is manufactured internally. The lenders pulling ahead are fundamentally rethinking how loans are manufactured. They are deploying artificial intelligence and strategic outsourcing to build leaner, faster and more resilient operating models.
The economic pressures facing mortgage lenders are intensifying. Average origination costs have risen roughly 35% over the last three years, an incre...
