“So, HBO Max is now just ‘Max.’ Your move, Peacock.” Lenders continue to cogitate on their next moves as rates remain stubbornly high and inventory available for sale stubbornly low, and neither appears ready to change much any time in the near future. As I continue to visit with groups of lenders and vendors, lender’s overhead, and how comp figures into that, continues to be a hot topic. STRATMOR’s current blog is titled, “Compensation: Ever Changing,” and I asked STRATMOR CEO Lisa Springer about what lenders are doing in that area. “Lenders in increasing numbers are reaching out to STRATMOR to advise on compensation strategies from a holistic point of view, seeing how changes fit within the entire company. Management teams are thinking about structural changes and capitalizing on the opportunity to create win-win comp programs for both the employees and the companies.” In housing and inventory news, a recent real estate report from Zillow predicts 5% growth in home values this year. Housing inventory remains limited, which in turn continues to push property prices skyward and inflate home value appreciation. And sure you can read this list of hot new-home markets, and may even have branches in them, but do you have the products to offer those buyers? (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by MCT and its Hedge Advisory division. Download their recently released whitepaper, Mortgage Pipeline Hedging 101, for more information on hedging in today’s market. Today’s has an interview with Optifunder’s Carmel York that goes through a comprehensive overview of the warehouse lending space and current environment.)