Link to PDF Version of this issue IT Expenditure Soars Despite Pessimism Mortgage lenders’ technology spending grew at an astonishing 18 percent in 2002, according to an industry benchmark survey. According to Mortech 2002, lenders spent $3.2 billion in 2002, up from $2.7 billion in 2001. At the same time, lenders are pessimistic about the market this year, according to the survey. “There is an incipient malaise looming on the horizon,” said Jeff Lebowitz, author