Mortgage Industry Trends

Last week, I was in Dallas for the Mortgage Bankers Association's Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference. I attend each year to keep tabs on the new offerings vendors are bringing to the table to help mortgage originators and servicers do their jobs better, cheaper and faster.

No one expected the attendance at this year's show to be very good. In truth, it wasn't. MBA has it's own take on the numbers, but it was pretty light. Even so, I was surprised to see the vast majority of the vendors on the trade show floor in an upbeat mood.

Over the past few years, and even during the boom years of the refi, I could always count on a handful of vendors moaning about the low attendance and the fact that the lenders never left the session rooms or hallways to stroll through the exhibit hall. This year was different. Despite the fact that lenders were scarce, I didn't hear any whining at all.

When I asked the marketing folk in the booths why they were so upbeat in a down market at a show with lower than expected attendance, they just told me that things were going great. I suspect that I was told this for one of two reasons.

First, it is possible that the lenders that did spend the money to attend this show were actually looking for something here and scheduled meetings with vendors. That would certainly put a positive spin on the event and may have made it worth it to be a sponsor. A number of marketing pros told me that they had hosted some great meetings with prospects. They could not tell me who, of course.

The other possibility is that things are not really so good, lenders are not really investing in new technologies and that the marketing pros at the booths had their interviewing faces on, showing their positive sides and great sales abilities in the hope that one of the companies that was doing better would tap them for a position before their own companies tanked. Naturally, no one admitted this to me at the show.

There can be no doubt that this is a difficult time for the firms that provide technology to mortgage originators -- though the servicing side of the business is doing fairly well, as are the vendors that provide document services or electronic delivery to servicers who are actively modifying loans. It won't be clear for some time how well the many firms that serve this space will do. I hope that MBA tech extends the runway for the firms that exhibited there. They did a great job of being positive when evidence for that attitude was scarce.

If all goes well, they'll still be here in 18 months when the business picks back up again. Maybe they'll get into the habit of being positive, upbeat and helpful and do even better when the next wave hits. I'd love to see that.