Lykken on Lending

This podcast segment explains how easing Middle East tensions, improving bond markets, and upcoming Federal Reserve decisions are contributing to renewed optimism for lower mortgage rates.

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Matt began as an originator in 2002. He fell in love with the idea of following MBS in real-time but felt that existing products were only scratching the surface. Thus was born MBS Live in 2007, the first-of-its-kind platform with real-time market data/analysis, and live chat with analysts, traders, and originators around the country. He is currently the Founder and CEO of MBSLive!

He's been covering bond/mortgage markets, writing commentary, alerts, and chatting with the live community every business hour of every business day ever since.

Matt also serves as the Chief of Operations for mortgagenewsdaily.com, where he is one of the industry's most respected mortgage rate experts, frequently quoted in the media. Mortgage News Daily's rate index is used as the definitive resource on day-to-day mortgage rate averages.

He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and son, where he enjoys skiing, fishing, coaching youth sports, playing the guitar, and more DIY projects/hobbies than he'd care to admit.

06-16-2026 “A Mistake” The Apple of a Modeler's Eye

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They’re gonna make a mistake

They’re gonna do it on purpose

Does it waste our time?

We all make mistakes. Modelers intentionally make mistakes to test scenarios and reveal truths not shown in official government statistics. Alternative data and models highlight the value of learning through trial and error and transparency.

The absence of the government spoon-feeding the Fed revealed the shadow modelers to a broader audience. They can gain insight sooner by making mistakes. Markets developed quite a taste…

…for a well-made Mistake. They wanna make A Mistake. Why can’t we make A Mistake?

These views are mine. Learn from mistakes at TMSpotlight.com.

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Song: A Mistake (1999) Fiona Apple

This podcast segment explores FHA's review of its Minimum Property Requirements and how modernizing these standards could streamline appraisals, reduce lending delays, and improve access to FHA financing.

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Adam DeSanctis, VP of Communications at Mortgage Bankers Association

As a strategic public affairs and communications executive with nearly two decades of experience, Adam has deep expertise in strategy, management, and media relations. He is widely considered to be an expert in a variety of communications, including advocacy, brand, executive, crisis, grassroots, and social media. In his career, he has been the MBA spokesperson on a wide variety of real estate research and advocacy-related issues, promoted MBA research and advocacy efforts to financial, political, and trade industry media and on MBA's social media channels, and secured media opportunities for MBA leadership on key real estate trends and issues, generated media coverage for MBA's research and data on mortgage applications, credit availability, homebuilder applications, mortgage forbearance/delinquencies, commercial real estate originations, and forecasts, and other industry analysis, developed key strategic initiatives for MBA's organizational public affairs plan, media relations and member communications support for mPower, MBA's Opens Doors Foundation and MBA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program.

Housing affordability remains one of the mortgage industry's greatest challenges, but what if one policy change could provide immediate relief for first-time homebuyers? In this insightful discussion, David Lykken, David Kittle, Alice Alvey, and Bill Corbett examine the case for eliminating FHA's upfront mortgage insurance premium (MIP), arguing that the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund's strong capital position may create an opportunity to lower borrowers' upfront costs without compromising the program's financial stability. The conversation also explores the broader economic backdrop of inflation, interest rates, and government policy, raising important questions about whether practical, common-sense reforms could make homeownership more attainable for thousands of Americans.

This podcast segment explores how rapid advances in artificial intelligence are transforming mortgage lending and servicing while highlighting the critical importance of governance, data security, compliance, and responsible implementation to avoid unintended risks.

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Allen Pollack, a Mortgage & Financial Services Technology Advisor, is a subject matter expert in the mortgage origination process along with software product management and software development.

In today’s financial services push to all things Digital, Allen has been helping lenders and financial services solution providers align their digital transformation and technology strategies by removing the human element of risk, and automating processes that drive efficiencies and margins into profits.

Over the course of his career, Allen has co-created and developed technology business models that have birthed highly successful, innovative solutions and companies.

Allen co-founded and served as CTO of New York Loan Exchange (NYLX), a loan product eligibility and pricing engine (PPE) that made an immediate impact on the industry, scaling the company quickly and forming partnerships with multiple mortgage and financial lending companies. In 2012, Allen was a co-founder of a merger between NYLX and Aklero Risk Analytics that created LoanLogics, A Mortgage Loan Quality and Performance Analytics company. Allen served as CTO where he continued to bring new and innovative product solutions to the market that made a significant impact to mortgage lenders that reduced risk, scaled business channels, and grew profits in a very competitive and highly regulated market.

Allen is also is mortgage and finance technology contributor on a weekly live industry podcast, Lykken on Lending, and is launching a new podcast soon to be released, TechStack Radio, dedicated to technology and innovation in Financial Services.

This podcast segment highlights new VA loss mitigation options that give veteran homeowners more opportunities to avoid foreclosure while encouraging borrowers to contact their mortgage servicer early and urging lenders to weigh in on pending FinCEN AML policy changes.

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Alice Alvey, Master CMB

Vice President Partner Education and Training at Union Home Mortgage

She handles development of their World Class Training program designed to support UHM partners and organizational effectiveness.

Prior to UHM, Alice served as Senior Vice President at Indecomm leading the Indecomm-Mortgage U division, Internal QA and Compliance and SaaS technologies. Indecomm acquired Mortgage U in 2013, where Alice was President/Co-founder, providing training and consulting since 1996. Prior to MU she served as SVP of Operations at a national bank overseeing operations for wholesale, retail and correspondent from underwriting through servicing, and compliance.

She has been in the trenches of mortgage lending operations from application through servicing for over 30 years. Her authoring work in training content, policies and procedures and the FHA/VA Practical guides illustrates her ability to bridge regulatory requirements with day-to-day operations.

Alice has been a weekly contributor to the Lykken on Lending show since its beginning in April 2009 and has made her weekly contributions to 450+ episodes!

This podcast segment explains how quarter-end bond market trading, weaker-than-expected jobs data, and evolving Fed expectations combined to drive mortgage rate volatility and shape the outlook for interest rates in the weeks ahead.

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Matt began as an originator in 2002. He fell in love with the idea of following MBS in real-time but felt that existing products were only scratching the surface. Thus was born MBS Live in 2007, the first-of-its-kind platform with real-time market data/analysis, and live chat with analysts, traders, and originators around the country. He is currently the Founder and CEO of MBSLive!

He's been covering bond/mortgage markets, writing commentary, alerts, and chatting with the live community every business hour of every business day ever since.

Matt also serves as the Chief of Operations for mortgagenewsdaily.com, where he is one of the industry's most respected mortgage rate experts, frequently quoted in the media. Mortgage News Daily's rate index is used as the definitive resource on day-to-day mortgage rate averages.

He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and son, where he enjoys skiing, fishing, coaching youth sports, playing the guitar, and more DIY projects/hobbies than he'd care to admit.

07-06-2026 Spinning in "Circles" 

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Rates couldn't turn around

'Til they were upside down

Powell said that he’s gone, yet he’ll be around for a while. Trump underscored that the blockade would last as long as it takes. So, the guessing game remains in place: when will the pressure on Oil prices ease, and will they drag growth more than drive inflation?

The 10-year yield spins in circles between long-standing resistance at 4.50 and a trend reversal at 4.20. The bulls need tangible good news on Oil to break out.

Run away, but we're running in circles. Run away, run away. 

These views are mine. Join TMSpotlight to know how circles break.

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Song: Circles (2019) Post Malone

This podcast segment highlights the release of FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 historical data, marking a major step toward modernizing mortgage credit scoring, expanding lender choice, and improving access to affordable home financing.

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Adam DeSanctis, VP of Communications at Mortgage Bankers Association

As a strategic public affairs and communications executive with nearly two decades of experience, Adam has deep expertise in strategy, management, and media relations. He is widely considered to be an expert in a variety of communications, including advocacy, brand, executive, crisis, grassroots, and social media. In his career, he has been the MBA spokesperson on a wide variety of real estate research and advocacy-related issues, promoted MBA research and advocacy efforts to financial, political, and trade industry media and on MBA's social media channels, and secured media opportunities for MBA leadership on key real estate trends and issues, generated media coverage for MBA's research and data on mortgage applications, credit availability, homebuilder applications, mortgage forbearance/delinquencies, commercial real estate originations, and forecasts, and other industry analysis, developed key strategic initiatives for MBA's organizational public affairs plan, media relations and member communications support for mPower, MBA's Opens Doors Foundation and MBA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program.

As the mortgage industry navigates another week of market uncertainty, one message is becoming increasingly clear: strong economic fundamentals are keeping interest rates elevated even as optimism returns to the housing market. In this week's commentary, our panel examines what a stronger-than-expected jobs report means for Federal Reserve policy, why geopolitical tensions continue to fuel market volatility, and how mortgage professionals should interpret shifting expectations for rate cuts versus rate hikes. The discussion also explores the growing confidence in purchase lending, the importance of separating politics from economic data, and the industry's continued call for meaningful housing finance reforms. Whether you're watching the Fed, managing a pipeline, or preparing for what's next, this conversation provides valuable perspective on the forces shaping today's mortgage market.