Weekly Real Estate News
Summary
Fairway Home Mortgage said a 28-member North Carolina team led by Jeff Gilmore and Matt Gray returned in September, and reported 159 returning employees over the past year.
Two North Carolina mortgage managers who left Fairway Home Mortgage in 2024 have returned with a 28-member team, giving the lender a recruiting win in a market where experienced originators are closely watching operating support and loan-production economics.
Jeff Gilmore and Matt Gray brought their Fairway Custom Mortgage group in Matthews back to the company in September, according to Fairway’s October 20 announcement. The team had worked at Fairway from 2010 through 2024 before spending approximately two years with another lender.
Fairway described the group as bringing $250 million in loan production. The release does not identify the measurement period for that figure, so it should not be read as a projection for the team’s first year back. HousingWire, citing RETR production data, separately reported 418 loans totaling $125.5 million in 2026 production through August 10 and $251.4 million in 2025. Those figures provide context but are not necessarily identical to Fairway’s company-reported number.
The larger recruiting claim is notable. Fairway said 159 employees have rejoined during the past year, including 52 loan originators whose return represents $558 million in production. The company did not disclose the departures over the same period, its net headcount change or the time frame attached to the production figure. Those omissions make it impossible to calculate net recruiting growth from the announcement alone.
Gilmore said the team’s experience elsewhere had reinforced its preference for Fairway’s underwriting responsiveness, leadership accessibility and ability to solve problems. Gray pointed to management’s background in loan origination. Those comments are the managers’ assessments, not independent measures of faster closings or better borrower outcomes.
Fairway Co-President of Recruiting Holly Mattson said returning producers frequently cite the company’s culture and speed. Fairway did not disclose the financial terms offered to Gilmore, Gray or the team, or whether compensation, branch economics and technology commitments changed from the group’s prior tenure.
The announcement lands as lenders compete for established purchase-money relationships while higher mortgage rates constrain refinancing. Bringing a producing team back can provide immediate local referral relationships, but production history is no guarantee of future closings. Market conditions, loan pricing, underwriting capacity and individual originator retention all affect the outcome.
The move also illustrates a recruiting question that is often harder to answer than a headline about a large team: whether a lender can retain experienced producers through changing market cycles. Fairway’s returnee totals indicate some former employees have chosen to come back. Its net staffing trends and subsequent funded production will show the larger impact.
