Mortgage lenders of all sizes are expected to increase their technology spending by 15% this year to $4.11 billion, according to the new MORTECH study.
Jeff Lebowitz, president of MORTECH LLC, Bend, Ore., said that although production volumes will decline in 2011, mortgage firms will use the time to play catch up "on workflow integration and electronic document management."
In a summary of the annual report, he notes that, "We will see investment, but not much innovation. Still, 2011 will be a good year for many mortgage technology application suppliers."
A former Fannie Mae executive, Lebowitz has been issuing his MORTECH study since 1988. It covers not only technology, but asks lenders about other emerging business trends as well.
Lebowitz noted in his findings that mortgage technology spending began to collapse with the subprime implosion which began in 2007. "Subprime lenders had accounted for the bulk of the investment growth early in the decade," he said.
