Demand for debt-service-coverage ratio (DSCR) loans grew in 2025 as tight housing inventory and a rising share of nontraditional wage earners pushed more borrowers toward alternative products.
The demand was contagious across the industry. In November, Rocket Pro announced the launch of its first DSCR product for investment properties, marking a turning point as companies pivot their offerings to the needs of their clients.
DSCR loans let borrowers qualify for an investment property purchase based on the expected rental income to be generated, rather than the borrower’s personal income. Rocket Pro general manager Dan Sogorka said the lender decided to offer the product after experiencing strong partner and investor appetite.
“We spent a long time studying the product and the market,” Sogorka said in an interview with HousingWire. “When we felt like we could come out with a good product that fit the market, but also had strong underwriting guidelines, and something we could do responsibly, we rolled it out.”
Sogorka said Rocket designed its DSCR offering for “experienced investors that have done this before.” It set “strong guidelines and strong pricing” to target professional borrowers rather than first-time investors. Early demand has exceeded expectations, which makes Sogorka and his team eager to start 2026.
“[DSCR] was a very, very small part of the market a couple of years ago. … Now, there just seems to be more players in the space doing these types of loans. There’s an investor appetite for them. So I don’t see those things changing that much in 2026,” he added.
Roby Robertson, executive vice president of marketing and origination technology strategy at LoanLogics, said that a combination of homeowners locked in by low rates — and a growing share of self-employed and nontraditional workers — has contributed to the appetite.
“As DSCR is showing higher and higher demand, the mortgage industry is just having to act in kind,” he said. “What’s happening is that large lenders are seeing small to midsized lenders making really good margins in the DSCR space, and they’re realizing that the buyers are really not any more high risk than non-QM borrowers.
“Big names attract big names,” he added.
DSCR as a ‘structural response’
Stacy Speas, senior vice president of operations at Cornerstone Servicing, said that business-purpose loans have grown and will continue to grow in the new year. In this case, landlords and a strong rental market are sparking demand.
“Although we saw some reductions in the Fed interest rates, mortgage rates, relatively speaking to what these borrowers probably have seen in prior years, especially during the pandemic, were much higher,” she said. “But being able to rely on that rent cash flow certainly helps those landlords, and particularly smaller landlords who might not have a lot of properties, helps them to get into the market.”
Peter Idziak, senior associate at Polunsky Beitel Green, said that DSCR isn’t a mere trend but rather a symptom of the macroeconomic issues surrounding the housing market.
“The traction we have seen with DSCR loans in the residential lending space in 2025 is not just a trend but a structural response to a high-rate environment and shifting regulatory appetite,” he said. “I expect the DSCR product to continue to increase both in size and share of the non-QM market. … I [also] expect the DSCR market to mature from the ‘wild west’ into a phase of more rigorous standardization and continued strong growth.”
Idziak said the larger trend is tied to nontraditional income sources.
“This shift is borne out by the data. Non-QM securitization volume hit a record high in 2025, with DSCR loans comprising roughly 30% of that volume. DSCR loans have moved from a niche offering to a standardized, liquid asset class that the secondary market is eager to buy.”