http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/ Get the latest Mortgage News Today by Ben Gerritsen https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-recap-05292026 Fri, 29 May 2026 20:02:14 GMT 6a19ffb8a6791958c5e72732 Matthew Graham Markets Were Skeptical of Mid-Day Peace Headlines and That Was a Good Instinct A few hours into the trading session, newswires came out that seemed to offer the best hopes of a peace deal yet. Specifically, it said that Trump was in the situation room to make a final determination on the peace deal and that issues required for the infamous one page memo had already been agreed upon. Markets were surprisingly cautious about reading too much into that, although it briefly took yields to their lowest levels of the week. By the end of the day, we learned that no decision had been made and negotiations weren't any farther along than already assumed based on the week's earlier "close to signing the memo" news. Bonds faded back toward opening levels to end the day roughly unchanged. Next week brings more headline-watching as well as the month's biggest slate of domestic econ data. Econ Data / Events Wholesale Inventories 0.5 vs 0.8 f'cast, 1.3 prev Chicago PMI 62.7 vs 50.5 f'cast Market Movement Recap 08:33 AM Fairly flat overnight and little-changed to start. MBS up 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr unchanged at 4.445 10:57 AM Gaining ground after Trump "final decision pending" headlines. MBS up 3 ticks (.09) and 10yr down 1bp at 4.436 02:24 PM Fairly flat. MBS up an eighth and 10yr down half a bp at 4.438 Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mortgage-rates-05292026 Fri, 29 May 2026 17:34:00 GMT 6a19d3161b1e08268fb58a8b Matthew Graham While there are still a few hours left in the trading day, it's a near certainty that this week will end with mortgage rates at meaningfully lower levels compared to last Friday. Today is only adding modestly to that trend, but that makes it the 8th straight business day where rates have either held steady or moved lower. On that note, it's possibly worth considering that these sorts of winning streaks have definite life spans. We've certainly seen stretches of more than 10 business days without any upward movement in rates, but they're very rare. Even then, if the streak were to end on Monday or Tuesday, it may only be a temporary blip before more improvement. The bigger-picture issue remains the state of the Iran war. If it officially ends, rates likely have more room to improve. If hostilities re-escalate, rates could move back up into the recently higher range. [thirtyyearmortgagerates] Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/05292026-new-home-sales Fri, 29 May 2026 17:27:00 GMT 6a19cdac1b1e08268fb58a89 Matthew Graham New home sales pulled back in April after stronger readings in the prior two months. According to the latest Census Bureau and HUD data, sales of new single-family homes fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 622,000 , down 6.2% from March and 11.3% from a year earlier. Inventory moved slightly higher, with the number of new homes for sale rising to 489,000 , up 1.7% from March but still 2.2% below April 2025 levels. At the current sales pace, that left months’ supply at 9.4 months , up from 8.7 months in March and 8.6 months one year ago. Pricing was mixed. The median sales price climbed to $422,500 , up 8.0% from March and 2.2% from a year earlier. The average sales price ticked up to $508,800 , a modest 0.7% monthly gain, though it remained 1.1% below last year’s level. Sales (MoM): -6.2% Sales (YoY): -11.3% Inventory (MoM): +1.7% Inventory (YoY): -2.2% Months’ Supply: 9.4 (up from 8.7 prior month; 8.6 YoY) Median Price: $422,500 Average Price: $508,800 Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/05292026-mortgage-applications-mba Fri, 29 May 2026 17:20:00 GMT 6a19cbedc233a913129eba62 Matthew Graham Mortgage applications fell sharply last week as higher borrowing costs continued to pressure refinance demand, while purchase activity showed a bit more resilience. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported an 8.5% decrease in total application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending May 22. The decline was driven largely by a steep drop in refinance activity. The Refinance Index fell 18% from the previous week, though refinance demand remained 19% higher than the same period one year ago. Purchase activity held relatively steady despite the rate environment. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index slipped just 0.4% week over week and remained 5% above year-ago levels. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 6.65% from 6.56%, reaching its highest level since August 2025. MBA’s Joel Kan notes the steady climb in rates over the past five weeks pushed many borrowers out of the refinance market. Additionally, Kan said refinance activity weakened across nearly every category last week, noting that “conventional refinances were down 14 percent, along with an 18 percent decrease for FHA applications and a 34 percent decrease for VA applications.” He added that refinances accounted for just 37.5% of total mortgage activity, “the lowest share since June 2025.” Looking ahead to next week's data, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a rebound given the relatively strong recovery in mortgage rates (now at their lowest daily levels in more than 2 weeks). Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/05292026-case-shiller-fhfa-home-prices-prices-apprecia Fri, 29 May 2026 16:25:00 GMT 6a19c8ef1b1e08268fb58a83 Matthew Graham Home price appreciation slowed further in March and through the first quarter of 2026, according to the latest data from both FHFA and the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. While national prices continued to edge higher on a nominal basis, both reports pointed to a housing market struggling to maintain momentum as affordability pressures and elevated mortgage rates continued to weigh on demand. FHFA reported that U.S. house prices rose 1.7% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026, matching the prior quarter’s annual pace. On a quarterly basis, prices increased 0.5% from Q4 2025, while the agency’s seasonally adjusted monthly index posted a modest 0.1% gain in March from February. Regional FHFA data continued to show a sharply divided housing market. Seven of the nine census divisions posted annual price gains, led by the East North Central division at +4.4% . By contrast, the West South Central division recorded a 0.7% decline . At the state level, Illinois led annual appreciation at 7.3% , while Colorado posted the steepest decline at -2.4% . Metro-level results reflected similar divergence. FHFA said home prices increased in 65 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas over the past year, with Elgin, Illinois posting the strongest appreciation at 10.8% . Meanwhile, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas recorded the largest decline at -6.9% , underscoring ongoing softness across portions of the Sun Belt. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-05292026 Fri, 29 May 2026 16:07:14 GMT 6a1987b25402e87793dc31b9 Rob Chrisman U.S. home foreclosures are accelerating: filings rose 26 percent year-over-year in Q1 2026, to roughly 119k, the highest in six years. It’s expensive to own a home! The last time they hit this level (early 2020), government relief programs and pandemic stimulus caused them to decline. As everyone in our biz knows, the increase has been driven by soaring home insurance bills, property taxes, and homeowner association fees rather than mortgage defaults alone. Meanwhile, anyone who thinks that there is a general shortage of homes should re-think that or refine their opinion. Elliot F. Eisenberg, Ph.D., penned, “Existing housing inventory is rising and while still below pre-Covid levels, April’s reading is the best since 2020. However, sales activity is flat as a hockey puck. That combination is pushing up months-of-inventory, putting downward pressure on home prices. To wit, the latest Case-Shiller data, for the month of March, shows home prices falling 0.22 percent month-over-month and rising 0.7 percent year-over-year, less than inflation. Real home prices are declining.” (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by NFTYDoor, the white-label HELOC platform for banks, credit unions, and brokers. Close in zero days with warehouse funding. Power your home equity lending with NFTYDoor. Today’s features an interview with Pineapple's Shubha Dasgupta on the progress and process of mortgages being originated on the blockchain, and the use cases and benefits to the mortgage and bond markets.) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-morning-05292026 Fri, 29 May 2026 14:03:21 GMT 6a19ab58a6791958c5e68089 Matthew Graham Bonds were flat overnight for a change, with just a bit of 2-way volatility but no notable directional movement. Without any new or interesting war-related headlines, what else can we even discuss in May, 2026? There's some econ data in the form of the highest Chicago PMI reading since 2022.  At 62.7 vs a 50.5 forecast, it absolutely obliterated expectations, but even that was worth less than 1bp of weakness in 10yr yields. Both MBS and Treasuries remain close enough to unchanged levels as we head into the 10am ET trading hour. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-recap-05282026 Thu, 28 May 2026 19:46:32 GMT 6a18aab4a6791958c5e4b137 Matthew Graham Spoiler Alert: Yes, It Was War Headlines Need a way to explain overnight weakness in the bond market? War headlines. Need to know why bonds rallied sharply just after 10am ET to hit the best levels in 2 weeks? Yep, more war headlines. Granted, the 8:30am econ data was not completely ignored. A slightly softer-than-expected PCE inflation number helped bonds get back to unchanged levels, but a substantial majority of the day's volume followed the 10am news that essentially suggested the peace deal was approved, pending Trump's final sign off. Later in the day, separate newswires suggested Iran hadn't fully signed off, but no one seemed to care. Day over day gains were mild in the bigger picture, but resulted in the best trading levels in 2 weeks by the 3pm close.  Econ Data / Events Continued Claims (May)/16 1786.0K vs 1780K f'cast, 1782K prev Core CapEx (Apr) -1.1% vs 0.4% f'cast, 3.4% prev Core PCE (m/m) (Apr) 0.2% vs 0.3% f'cast, 0.3% prev Core PCE (y/y) (Apr) 3.3% vs 3.3% f'cast, 3.2% prev Core PCE Prices QoQQ1 4.4% vs 4.3% f'cast, 2.7% prev Corporate profitsQ1 -0.4% vs 5.7% f'cast, 5.7% prev Durable goods (Apr) 7.9% vs 3.5% f'cast, 0.8% prev GDPQ1 1.6% vs 2.0% f'cast, 0.5% prev GDP Final SalesQ1 1.5% vs 1.6% f'cast, 0.3% prev Jobless Claims (May)/23 215.0K vs 211K f'cast, 209K prev PCE (y/y) (Apr) 3.8% vs 3.8% f'cast, 3.5% prev PCE prices (m/m) (Apr) 0.4% vs 0.5% f'cast, 0.7% prev Market Movement Recap 08:19 AM Weaker overnight on reports of ongoing hostilities in Iran. MBS down over an eighth of a point and 10yr up 2.3bps at 4.507 09:17 AM Back near unchanged after data-driven rally. MBS down 1 tick (.03) and 10yr down half a bp at 4.479 10:59 AM quick rally on "deal" reports and a bit of pull back on "yeah but" reports. MBS up 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr down 2.4bps at 4.46 01:02 PM Near best levels. MBS up 5 ticks (.16) and 10yr down 3.4bps at 4.45 Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mortgage-rates-05282026 Thu, 28 May 2026 19:08:00 GMT 6a1893c26a037b0210bee693 Matthew Graham We were close yesterday and we officially arrived today. Mortgage rates may still be elevated compared to almost all of the past 10 months, but they're the lowest they've been since May 14th.  This was accomplished with a modest drop versus yesterday's levels after another round of news on a potential U.S./Iran peace deal. This morning's inflation data also helped the underlying bond market find its footing. In terms of nuts and bolts, top tier 30yr fixed rates fell to 6.59% for the average lender, down from 6.61% yesterday and from 6.75% last Tuesday. [thirtyyearmortgagerates] Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-05282026 Thu, 28 May 2026 15:55:30 GMT 6a183ae0d10b34b69c965359 Rob Chrisman What is something that small and mid-sized lenders can’t offer? Chase rolled out a program for borrowers to earn 100,000 Chase Points. (Bilt and UWM rolled out something similar a while back.) But, nearly every lender can help borrowers with the cost of a mortgage, and STRATMOR’s current blog is “Pricing That Can Help Borrowers.” In addition, in the credit world two new automated features for the FICO Score Mortgage Simulator were announced yesterday designed to help lenders move beyond manual “what-if” credit simulations and generate personalized borrower action plans more efficiently. The program “automates credit action planning for borrowers based on target score goals or budget, offers early score potential estimates, and is built directly on the mortgage FICO Scores used in lending decisions (FICO Scores 2, 4 and 5). (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by NFTYDoor, the white-label HELOC platform for banks, credit unions, and brokers. Close in zero days with warehouse funding. Power your home equity lending with NFTYDoor. Today’s features an interview with Sagent’s Sridhar Sharma and Shane Leonard on how the latest and greatest in underwriting technology is reducing friction in the mortgage origination process.) Lender and Broker Products, Software, and Services “500 loans or 50,000. You get the same elite servicing platform. At MSF Servicing, no portfolio is too big or too small. That's because we've eliminated the minimum loan count requirements that leave smaller servicers locked out of top-tier platforms. Whether you're managing 500 loans or 50,000, you'll have access to the same experienced team, the same state-of-the-art technology, and the same high-touch level of service, with no thresholds, no gatekeeping, and no compromises. Our servicing platform was purpose-built to scale without sacrificing quality. Boutique relationships and complex portfolios run on the same infrastructure that grows as you do. Finally, your borrowers will love the MSF mobile app, which delivers real-time account access, seamless payment tracking, and intuitive self-service, on their schedule. All backed by a dedicated borrower portal and multilingual support in 200+ languages that enhances your brand at every touchpoint. For more information, contact Rick Smith (860-989-9006). Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full