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Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rate dip ignites refi boom in January

LOAN PRODUCTS, Mortgage Rates, Originations, Refinance, Secondary markets, Securitization, Underwriting /

Taking advantage of falling interest rates, largely spurred by narrowing primary-secondary spreads resulting from a White House pronouncement, consumers stepped up rate lock activity, while lenders added products in January, separate reports noted. Processing Content On Jan. 8, Pres. Trump ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion of mortgage-backed securities. This came […]

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Treasury yields plunge, dollar hits key technical targets

Mortgage Rates, Treasury bonds, Treasurys /

In a bit of a surprise, to me anyway, treasuries followed up good days yesterday with bullish gap openings this morning. Processing Content Yesterday’s opening trades were the high yields for the day while the low yields were printed in the last 15 minutes. The 30-year finished the day with a bullish outside reversal and

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Affordability hits 4-year high as rates near 6%

Housing affordability, Mortgage Rates, Originations, Refinance /

Affordability continues to improve in 2026, with home-price growth flattening and mortgage rates nearing 6%. Processing Content Early January declines in rates helped push affordability to a four-year high, as the monthly principal and interest payment needed to purchase the average-priced home dropped 7%, or $164, year over year to $2,091, reducing the share of

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Housing inventory and new listings show impact of winter weather

Housing Inventory, Housing Market, Housing Market Tracker, HWmember, Mortgage Rates, New listings, Purchase Applications /

I was amazed that the last Housing Market Tracker didn’t show much drama from the epic late-January snowstorm that impacted much of the U.S., but today’s tracker data got hit for sure. However, the housing market will be back in full force again soon. Last week, inventory declined, new listings data was negative year over

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Foreign investors keep U.S. real estate moving

Canada, Contributors, HWmember, Investment Properties, Investors, Mortgage Rates, Non-QM, Opinion, Real Estate /

While many of the latest conversations around the U.S. real estate market have focused on affordability and interest rates, one segment continues to move forward: foreign investors. While domestic buyers remain more cautious, investors from abroad are driving much of the transaction volume in many U.S. markets. One reason is that foreign buyers view risk,

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Mortgage rates nudge higher as markets stay jittery

Housing markets, MARKETING TO BORROWERS, Mortgage Rates, Originations /

Mortgage rates rose again in the first full week following the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision not to reduce rates during its January meeting. Processing Content Following the meeting, Pres. Trump nominated Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, to replace Jerome Powell as chairman. Warsh is seen by the markets as someone who is more

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Are you selling the rate or building relationships? 

Contributors, HWmember, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Opinion, Origination /

For more than 25 years, I’ve heard loan officers complain that their rates aren’t competitive. One of the first questions rate shoppers ask is, “What’s your rate today?” For far too long, the industry’s focus has been on rate—not on what is truly the best financial decision for the borrower. Many salespeople sell rate because

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Two Harbors misses estimates as UWM deal nears

Earnings, Mortgage Rates, Secondary markets, Servicing /

As Two Harbors Investment moves toward its sale to UWM Holdings, the mortgage REIT posted another quarterly GAAP loss and fell short of Wall Street’s earnings expectations, even as results improved sharply from a settlement-driven stumble earlier in the year.   Processing Content The net loss of $1.3 million was much improved from the third

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BLS jobs report for January delayed by partial government shutdown

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Government Shutdown, Housing Market, Jobs Report, Mortgage Rates, Mortgage Rates Center /

The January jobs report published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will not be released as scheduled on Friday due to the partial federal government shutdown that began Saturday. The report will be issued once funding resumes. The shutdown was triggered after Congress failed to pass funding bills that include money for the

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