Yesterday, Tampa set a record for its all-time high temperature (at least since man began keeping track, for you sticklers) while rain caused flooding in Reno, NV. It’s good to own an HVAC company. The people there and throughout much of the nation can use some… ice. For ice news of a different type, LOs took note when ICE Mortgage Technology estimated that, heading into the second quarter of 2025, U.S. mortgage borrowers held $11.5 trillion in “tappable” home equity, or equity available for borrowing while maintaining at least a 20 percent cushion. Forty percent of applications are for refis, per the MBA, so owners are certainly tapping into it. And the inventory of homes available for sale has increased. Of course, people don’t want more neighbors, more traffic, more congestion, more kids in the schools, more strain on the water system. The construction industry never fully recovered from the 2008 recession: fewer homes were built in the U.S. in the following ten years than in any decade since the 1960s, even as the population continued to grow. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by nCino, makers of the nCino Mortgage Suite for the modern mortgage lender. nCino Mortgage Suite’s three core products – nCino Mortgage, nCino Incentive Compensation, and nCino Mortgage Analytics – unite the people, systems, and stages of the mortgage process. Hear an interview with RatePlug’s Brad and Jeff Springer on how the home property search process is evolving to include accurate, real-time home affordability information.)