For mortgage pros, these next 12 months may prove the most transformative—technology-wise—in our industry's history.
That's not hyperbole. It's an unavoidable truth. AI is advancing technology and development so fast that the 1996–1999 internet frenzy feels unambitious by comparison.
As a result, some of the most tedious gears in the lending machine will speed up this year, including mortgage research, app completion, doc processing, and approvals.
That last one is a true disruptor because one thing literally every mortgage shopper wants is immediate approval. In 2026, a small but growing group of lenders will give them precisely that.
Countless lenders are now racing to install or fine-tune AI underwriting systems. They know that by year-end, pieces of code will routinely decide borrowers' financial worthiness in the time it takes to blink—at least on the prime side.
