As attendees head home from the MBA’s IMB in New Orleans, plenty will be eating airplane chow. Maybe you should buy vittles on the ground instead. Given the breezy weather in New Orleans, leather jackets are out in force. Those in attendance are talking about several good things that happened in 2023, impacting mortgage rates and lenders. Inflation has come down, hourly wages outpaced inflation the last seven months of the year, we didn’t have a recession or a banking crisis that some “experts” expected. In fact, the S&P 500 was up 23 percent, and the economy grew a decent 2.6 percent. Credit costs and trigger leads are a big item; today’s L1 Mortgage Matters session at 2PM ET features John Fleming, of John Fleming Law and the Texas MBA, and a good update on the trigger lead situation. Basel III is a concern; as MBA President Bob Broeksmit points out, no bank has ever failed due to servicing requirements, and we should guard against non-sensical choices from Washington DC. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is brought to you LoanCare. LoanCare has successfully navigated clients and homeowners through market change for 40 years. The mortgage subservicer is known for delivering superior customer experience through personalization and convenience via its portfolio management tool, LoanCare Analytics™, supporting MSR investors with a focus on customer engagement, liquidity, and credit risk. Hear an interview with Deephaven’s Tom Davis on the Non-QM space and what to expect from nontraditional financing markets in 2024.)