Private Lending Is Growing on Every Measure, but Most Lenders Still Run It on Disconnected Systems

Inaugural State of Private Lending survey of 200 US and Canadian lenders finds 84% using AI in their lending operation, while only 17% work from a single integrated platform

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TORONTO, November 10, 2026. Private lending grew on every measure tested in a new industry survey, even as competition intensified and lenders took on more risk. But the same research found that most lenders are running that growth on systems that don't connect to each other.

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Mortgage Automator today released State of Private Lending: 2027 Outlook, the first edition of an annual benchmark for the North American private lending industry. Lux Insights conducted the research independently among 200 senior private lending decision makers in the US and Canada. The full report is available at StateofPrivateLending.com.

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The growth is broad. 85% of lenders funded more loans than a year ago, and every loan type tested grew for at least 68% of the lenders offering it. So is the competition. 87% say their market is more competitive than it was a year ago, and 54% say they're more willing to take on risk.

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"Everyone in this market is growing right now, which means growth isn't evidence that anything is working," said Jason Alexander, CEO of Mortgage Automator. "Nearly nine in ten lenders are seeing more competition at the same time. What separates lenders over the next year won't be demand. It will be whether they can process the demand they already have without their own operation getting in the way."

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Lenders got faster, and still want more speed. 85% of lenders cut their time from application to funding, yet faster origination was still their top priority for the year ahead (44%). Most of the delays happen inside lenders' own operations. Chasing documents (34%) and underwriting (27%) account for most stalls, and seven in ten lenders redo work because of manual errors a few times a month or more. Only 17% run on a largely integrated, end-to-end platform, and 13% still rely mainly on spreadsheets and email.

AI is in the stack, but trust is still catching up. 84% of lenders use AI somewhere in their operation and 89% expect to use more next year, with adoption roughly even across the US and Canada. Confidence drops where errors carry credit or regulatory weight, a pattern explored in Mortgage Automator's October report, Trust Issues. Looking ahead, 56% are very or extremely concerned about AI-enabled fraud.
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Methodology

Lux Insights surveyed 200 private lenders (120 US, 80 Canada) online between August 26 and September 20, 2026, on behalf of Mortgage Automator. All respondents were senior operators or above with technology purchasing authority, and 44% hold C-suite titles. The margin of error is ±5.8% at 90% confidence for the total sample. Full methodology is included in the report at StateofPrivateLending.com.

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About Mortgage Automator

Backed by BVP Forge, Mortgage Automator empowers more than 500 private lenders across North America to scale their operations. Its flagship Lendr platform combines end-to-end Loan Origination and Servicing Software with native support for real estate, fix-and-flip, and construction lending—delivering a streamlined, intuitive experience built to close critical market gaps.

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Media contact: Alex Smith, VP of Marketing, marketing@mortgageautomator.com