2022 is already off to an “interesting” start. Going directly to the borrower , normally the role of brokers, lenders, MI companies, and other mortgage education sources, Fannie Mae announced that it has launched HomeView™, the company’s new free online homeownership education course, “to help consumers navigate the mortgage and homebuying process confidently and responsibly.” Covid-19 and its variants have already created an uneven approach to business for lenders & investors, our business in general, even school districts. Some businesses are requiring employees to come in, despite the contagiousness of Omicron, others not. For example, Top-10 national mortgage lender Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation continues to allow its employees to choose whether to return to the office or not, as do many others. Industry-wide, wholesale platforms are facing huge headwinds with compressed margins and slowing volume… what a difference a year makes, as evidenced by G-Rate shutting down Stearns wholesale. (More below.) And here’s a fairly visible, but not particularly well understood, form of wage inflation in the mortgage business occuring with loan officer compensation when real estate values rise . LOs are typically paid commission rates that are a fixed percentage of the mortgage amount. So, without any raise in commission bps, when average loan sizes increase (along with real estate values), so do LO paychecks (assuming the same number of average borrowers). Today’s audio version of the commentary is available here . This week’s is sponsored by SimpleNexus , an nCino company and homeownership platform that unites the people, systems, and stages of the mortgage process into one seamless, end-to-end solution that spans engagement, origination, closing and business intelligence.