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| Mortgage Rates End Week on a Calm Note | ||
| 5/1/2026 12:58 PM | ||
| Low volatility was the most obvious theme for mortgage rates last week. From April 14th through last Friday, the range for a top-tier 30yr fixed rate remained in an ultra-narrow range of 6.29-6.33%. That trend persisted on Monday of this week, but things changed abruptly after that. Tuesday and Wednesday saw moderately big increases that took the ...Read More | ||
| Database Mining, Commercial, PPE, Lead Gen Tools; Non-Agency Updates; Capital Markets | ||
| 5/1/2026 10:45 AM | ||
| The use of down payment assistance has risen sharply over the past year and a half, especially among FHA borrowers. Participation has jumped from 7.5 percent at the start of 2025 to over 21 percent recently, near the highest levels in years, as high home prices and borrowing costs push more buyers to seek help. Despite this increase, borrowers usin...Read More | ||
| Rallying on Peace Hopes and Weaker Data | ||
| 5/1/2026 9:35 AM | ||
| Bonds were almost perfectly flat during the overnight session along with oil and stock futures. Morning trading ushered in more volatility as the war-related headlines began to heat up. The most significant developments involve reports of a new peace proposal from Iran--one that potentially offers more concessions on nuclear aspirations. News is th...Read More | ||
| Bonds Recover With Oil, But Not Completely | ||
| 4/30/2026 3:29 PM | ||
| Bonds Recover With Oil, But Not Completely Ever since bottoming out together on the morning of April 17th, bond yields and oil prices have been moving higher together. The early overnight trading hours may have witnessed a bit of a "blow-off top" (fancy words that basically mean markets reversed cours...Read More | ||
| Mortgage Rates Recover Some of Yesterday"s Losses | ||
| 4/30/2026 2:09 PM | ||
| Mortgage rates spiked on Wednesday (yesterday) after reports suggested a prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. As has been the case for most of the past 2 months, interest rate movement was clearly correlated with oil prices. Now today, both are moving back in the other direction though not for reasons that are as obvious as yesterday"s. The...Read More | ||
| March Housing Starts Surge 10.8% as Permits Slide | ||
| 4/30/2026 1:11 PM | ||
| Residential construction activity moved in opposite directions in March, as housing starts posted a strong rebound while building permits fell sharply from the previous month’s elevated pace. The latest Census Bureau report suggests builders accelerated new projects even as future pipeline activity softened. Privately owned housing starts rose 10...Read More | ||
| Purchase Applications Rise Again Despite Higher Rates and Fewer Refis | ||
| 4/30/2026 12:46 PM | ||
| Mortgage applications eased modestly last week, giving back a small portion of the prior week’s sharp gains as rates moved slightly higher. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 1.6% decrease on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending April 24. The pullback was driven by softer refinance demand, while purchase activity contin...Read More | ||
| Home Prices Edge Higher, But Momentum Continues to Fade | ||
| 4/30/2026 12:15 PM | ||
| Home price appreciation remained subdued in early 2026, according to the latest data from both FHFA and S&P Cotality Case-Shiller. The two reports show prices still edging higher nationally, but with momentum slowing further as affordability constraints and elevated mortgage rates continue to weigh on the market. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted Ho...Read More | ||
| Forecasting, Data, Underwriting Tools., Credit Monitoring Tools; Webinars and Thought Leadership; STRATMOR Insights | ||
| 4/30/2026 10:47 AM | ||
| As an industry, we tend to care about interest rates, especially mortgage rates. (A recent STRATMOR piece is titled, “Mortgage Rates Are Not Random.”) But there is a group of people much less sensitive to rates and represent competition to lenders. All-cash home purchases have remained structurally elevated since early 2023, averaging 28 percent of...Read More | ||
| Oil Dropping, Bonds Rallying, Data Largely Ignored | ||
| 4/30/2026 8:40 AM | ||
| From an analytical standpoint, it"s hard to offer new and interesting insights when the order of any given day is simply to observe broad war-related sentiment via oil prices. From there, if bonds are diverging, we have a few things to discuss, but if bond yields are following, the case is closed. Today"s case is mostly closed as the cor...Read More | ||