AnnieMac CEO Joseph Panebianco on using data to drive success

One key theme among top mortgage players is how they use data to drive their success and guide their decisions. AnnieMac Home Mortgage CEO Joseph Panebianco will pull back the curtain and discuss his approach during his session at the Housing Economic Summit in Dallas on Feb. 10.

In this Q&A, Panebianco shares his take on leveraging data, the 2026 housing market and more.

HousingWire: What do you think will define the 2026 housing market for leaders?

Joseph Panebianco: This is the year (and probably by Q2 ‘26) we’ll find out whether policies and the economy lead towards slower growth/high unemployment or stable growth/renewed firmness in the labor market.  In other words, the winner of Logan’s Labor vs. Inflation fight could finally be determined.

The reason this is more important than normal is because we’re on the precipice of that “magic” rate that will spur the additional activity (or not) that will keep IMBs in the black or red. This, in turn, will determine the amount of M&A that occurs, the banker/broker share growth/contraction, the percent growth in refinance activity and how much inventory will continue to grow/contract regionally and nationally.

HW: Why should more leaders look at data to fuel business decisions and how does that pivot make an impact?

JP: Data isn’t gaining more importance….it’s always been important but many folks just don’t apply it in their decision-making process as much as they should/could. The most critical data points for IMBs in 2026 are a continued monitoring, reporting and taking action on their base, best and worst-case scenarios for interest rates.  

Worst Case: What happens to your volume and revenue if Inflation beats Labor? How far below your breakeven will that place you? What steps can you prepare to execute on today so you’re ready to act? Do you have the management team that can effectively execute on that if need be?

Base Case: What happens to your volume and revenue if Labor beats Inflation? Are you ready for staffing, capital requirements needed to fund more units, outreach to previously funded clients, etc.? Management teams rarely seem to consider the dangers of rapid growth, especially in the mortgage space where so much capital needs to be deployed before you see a dollar of revenue from an uptick in sales. 

Base Case: What happens to your volume and revenue if Inflation and Labor continue to battle it out with no end in sight? 

HW: What has you excited about next year’s housing market, if anything?

JP: Clearly everyone is excited about the potential uptick in production, even if it is merely an additional 10%. I am human so I’m also in that boat. 

I am also excited that we finally have an administration that is very much focused on housing and on the structure of interest rates to accommodate housing. It’s not clear to me yet how they will execute on that (Basel 3 endgame, Treasury issuance tactics, agency MBS purchases, etc) and whether they will be successful, but at least there’s recognition of the issues in housing and they are attempting to address it. 

Finally, I am excited to see how much advancement AI applications can soon have within the mortgage process. We are still in the first inning of this AI game, however it seems as though advancements can be measured in quarters versus in years. So while I don’t have great expectations of anything significant in Q1, Q2 or Q3, I do believe that by Q4 of 2026 there might well be significant enhancements and products we can deploy in the out years.

So I consider 2026 to be a year of exciting possibilities and 2027 through 2028 the years of deploying those technologies into our business systems to decrease expense and increase quality.

Don’t settle for only the data. Learn how to harness it to make better and faster decisions. Find the signal at the Housing Economic Summit. Join us in Dallas on Feb. 10.