Calm and Slightly Stronger, But Volatility Will be Back
Friday, May 8, 2026
Calm and Slightly Stronger, But Volatility Will be Back Once or twice per week, the bond market manages to post a fairly calm trading day against the prevailing backdrop of generally higher volatility. Today was such a day. The most helpful catalyst was an absence of any major war-related headlin... .. read more..
Mortgage Rates End Week Slightly Lower
Friday, May 8, 2026
It ended up being a decent round trip for rates this week. Monday kicked things off with a jump to the highest level in more than a month, and the third highest since August 2025. But that ended up being the only day where rates went higher. Wednesday brough the biggest chunk of the recover... .. read more..
Higher Rates Hit Mortgage Apps, But Only Modestly
Friday, May 8, 2026
Mortgage applications declined last week, reversing some of the prior period’s gains as rates climbed to their highest level in a month. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 4.4% decrease on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending May 1. The decline was broad-based, with both... .. read more..
2-Month Glut of Data Brings New Home Sales Back to Center of The Range
Friday, May 8, 2026
New home sales moved higher in March and February. Both months were reported on a single day this week as the Census Bureau continues catching up from the government shutdown. After dropping to 587k in January, sales rose to 635k in February and 682k in March. This represents a solid bounce... .. read more..
BBYS, Anti-Fraud, Subservicing Products; Primer Hedging Information for MLOs;...
Friday, May 8, 2026
If you haven’t signed up for the Mortgage Action Alliance, do so. It’s free, has good advocacy information, and there’s strength in numbers. Recent conference chatter includes suggesting that removing politics from the mortgage conversation would be a good thing to attempt, wondering if there’s e... .. read more..
Forget What You Know About The Payroll Count
Friday, May 8, 2026
Everyone's been talking about the ongoing change in the significance of the payroll number in the jobs report. OK, not everyone, but economists and bond traders for sure. The issue is the rapid shift in the size of the labor force as well as recent volatility in the multiple jobholder category, a... .. read more..
Another Mid-Day Reversal. Does Jobs Report Even Matter?
Thursday, May 7, 2026
Another Mid-Day Reversal Driven by Dueling Headlines The overnight session featured a modest but clearly-defined rally in response to hopeful headlines on the Iran war. But as early a 9am ET, a complete reversal was beginning to take shape. Bonds remained in positive territory until the 11am hour... .. read more..
Mortgage Rates Erase Early Improvement
Thursday, May 7, 2026
The day began on a fairly hopeful note for the mortgage market. During overnight trading hours, the bond market improved following a report regarding a peace framework sent to Iran by The U.S. When bonds improve, rates fall, all else equal. The gains were modest, but they allowed the averag... .. read more..
Hedging and Secondary, Verification, AI, Reverse, Ops Tools; Earnings; Market...
Thursday, May 7, 2026
Lender and Broker Products, Software, and Services Spring homebuying season is in full swing, and for many lenders, that also means a surge in home equity demand as borrowers tap rising property values. But growth can expose cracks. Every handoff, re-entry, and system switch adds time and increas... .. read more..
More Peace Deal Hope, More Overnight Gains
Thursday, May 7, 2026
Bonds and oil rallied again in the overnight session, though not as swiftly as they did yesterday. News was thinner, but there was still an obvious catalyst just before 3am with a WSJ report that the U.S. provided Iran a detailed framework to end the war. The line item that caught the market's at... .. read more..
Pre-Market Gains Stuck Around All Day
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Pre-Market Gains Stuck Around All Day The entirety of the domestic trading session was very flat compared to the ground covered during the overnight session. Pre-market headlines regarding a potential peace deal accounted for a 7bp drop in 10yr yields and 3/8th point improvement in MBS. 10s gaine... .. read more..
Mortgage Rates Make a More Serious Recovery
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Mortgage rates spiked sharply on Monday, hitting the highest levels in more than a month as escalation fears ramped up surrounding the Iran war. Yesterday technically saw some recovery, but it may as well have been an "unchanged" day. Now today, we're seeing a more legitimate recovery with the av... .. read more..
TBA Settlement, Non-Agency, Due Diligence, AI, Warehouse Tools; How Old is Yo...
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
“What do you call an aging actor who has finally paid off his house? Mortgage freeman.” Servicing is a highly important component of that, and I was fortunate to attend Sagent Ignite in Phoenix yesterday; we have a special live podcast today that was recorded from the event. Mortgagees follow dem... .. read more..
Big Overnight Recovery on Peace Deal Reports
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
There was one, big, obvious market mover overnight. At 4:50am ET, Axios reported that the U.S. and Iran are close to signing a one page memo of understanding to end the war. Oil and bond yields were already in recovery mode, but this kicked things into higher gear. Most of the gains remain even a... .. read more..
Data Didn't Hurt, But Bonds Underperformed The Oil Price Recovery
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Data Didn't Hurt, But Bonds Underperformed The Oil Price Recovery Today's headline is somewhat misleading. It points out the fact that oil prices made it back to yesterday's lows whereas bond yields didn't even come close. This is all true, assuming we're looking at front month oil prices. But if... .. read more..