http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/ Get the latest Mortgage News Today by Ben Gerritsen https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-04212026 Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:46:09 GMT 69e7710613382fb5135d3ae1 Rob Chrisman Wholesale and Correspondent Product and Corporate News Homebridge Financial Services, Inc., one of the nation’s largest privately held non-bank mortgage lenders, has officially signed an agreement to merge with an affiliate of Saluda Grade, a premier independent alternative investment firm (founded in 2019 with approximately $4.4 billion in assets under management). This powerful partnership marks a major leap forward, positioning the combined platform for explosive growth, particularly across the rapidly expanding Non-QM and HELOC space. The executive and management team at Homebridge are continuing with the company. Homebridge and REMN Wholesale will keep their full teams intact, ensuring continuity while unlocking next-level scale, innovation, and market leadership. Introducing HELIX, The Future of Digital Mortgage Lending! As part of this transformation, Homebridge and REMN Wholesale will be launching HELIX, a cutting-edge Digital mortgage lending platform that is miles ahead of anything currently in the market. Built directly from client feedback and engineered with a relentless focus on speed, automation, and elite customer experience, HELIX isn’t just an upgrade—it’s a complete reinvention of the digital mortgage process. This powerful new platform integrates home equity and first lien lending into one seamless ecosystem, dramatically improving both the borrower and MLO experience while driving unprecedented efficiency and scalability. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-morning-04212026 Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:03:30 GMT 69e78448a6791958c593c1b5 Matthew Graham Heading into the day, the 8:30am Retail Sales data was the obvious pick among the available economic reports to be a potential market mover. Reality had other ideas... weird ones. After months and months without any major reaction, this morning's weekly ADP employment finally made its presence felt, even if only by the smallest of margins. Retail Sales definitely garnered a higher volume reaction, but it was balanced between buyers and sellers whereas ADP actually caused a small directional move. Fortunately, it's so small that we've already talked about it too much. Bonds are essentially flat and the rest of the day now becomes about the familiar task of sitting and waiting for any interesting war-related developments.  Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-recap-04202026 Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:24:39 GMT 69e699e8a6791958c5920c45 Matthew Graham Bonds Only Modestly Weaker After New Escalation Over The Weekend Bonds/oil/stocks saw a small corrective bounce over the weekend after headlines called the peace process into question, but markets agree we're close enough to "on track" to avoid a major correction. Over the course of the day, bonds returned all the way to 'unchanged' even as oil prices stayed elevated vs Friday's close. It's hard to conceive that any counterparties in the war have the economic will to re-escalate at this point. Still, we don't know if the present 2 week ceasefire will give way to another ceasefire or something more concrete. The nature of that next step could determine the extent of the market's reaction. If economic data has any chance of moving the needle this week, Tuesday morning is when we'd find out (via Retail Sales for March).  Market Movement Recap 08:51 AM Bonds only modestly weaker despite initial overnight jump in yields. 10yr up 1.5bps at 4.262 and MBS down 2 ticks (.06). 11:27 AM MBS down nearly an eighth and 10yr up 1bp at 4.255 03:10 PM 10yr unchanged at 4.248 and MBS down 2 ticks (.06). Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mortgage-rates-04202026 Mon, 20 Apr 2026 19:21:00 GMT 69e67e035c4dbf441b706aa2 Matthew Graham Despite some initial signs of volatility in financial markets over the weekend, the bond market managed to avoid losing much ground. Because bonds dictate mortgage rate movement, the average lender remained very close to Friday's latest levels.  MND's rate index (a measure of top-tier 30yr fixed rates) rose by 0.01% which is the smallest increment we measure. Since April 14th, the index has held inside a narrow range of 0.03% with the bottom of that range representing the lowest rate in over a month. Volatility is a bigger risk over the next 2 days as the 2 week Iran war ceasefire expires. The market is generally positioned for further de-escalation, but there's more room for improvement if the war officially ends and Hormuz fully reopens. Conversely, if there's unexpected escalation in the next 48 hours, rates could also move back up. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-04202026 Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:47:58 GMT 69e61e896b1726a63b41b513 Rob Chrisman War in the Middle East made oil prices go up, higher oil prices hurt world economies and stock markets because prices and inflation go up, and higher inflation leads to higher interest rates. At least, that’s the way it usually works, as does the opposite. Last week stock markets surged as pivotal geopolitical development reshaped investor sentiment: The announced reopening of the Strait of Hormuz marked a major step toward de-escalation in the Middle East, with ongoing negotiations fueling optimism that a broader resolution may be closer than previously expected. Oil prices plunged roughly 14 percent intraday, briefly nearing $80 per barrel, down sharply from nearly $120 just ten days ago at peak tensions. But that was then, and this is now. And who knows what will happen next? (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Experian. From lead generation to closing and beyond, Experian empowers mortgage professionals with advanced data, credit insights, and decisioning tools to grow pipelines, manage risk, and stay compliant in a rapidly changing market. Hear an interview with Noise Media Group’s Joe Levi on how marketers are turning SEO budgets into generative engine optimization (GEO) to maintain visibility across AI-driven results that pull from diverse sources like structured data, news, and social content.) Wholesale and Correspondent Product and Corporate News NFTYDoor, an end-to-end digital HELOC software platform, today announced it is now operating as a fully independent company, enabling direct partnerships with wholesale brokers and private label correspondents, alongside a significant expansion of credit parameters and partner economics. Key enhancements include minimum FICO reduced from 640 to 600, maximum CLTV increased from 80 to 90 percent, maximum loan amount increased from $500,000 to $750,000, borrower rates reduced by 100+ bps, increased compensation for brokers and private label partners, and a fully embedded, no-cost warehouse line for private label partners. Access to NFTYDoor's enhanced end-to-end HELOC origination solution is available exclusively to partners contracting directly with NFTYDoor. Contact hello@nftydoor.com. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-morning-04202026 Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:34:12 GMT 69e639d0a6791958c5914372 Matthew Graham Heading into the weekend, all indications were about as promising as they have been that the war was heading toward a peaceful conclusion. This was reflected in oil prices and Treasury yields being at multi-week lows (and stocks at all-time highs). But over the weekend, the U.S. fired on and seized an Iranian ship, and Iran said it was cancelling plans to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices retraced almost all of Friday's drop on the news and bonds erased more than half of the associated gains. But both began bouncing back slowly in overnight trading. Bonds are now moving back into positive territory on recent headlines that suggest peace talks are back on. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-recap-04172026 Fri, 17 Apr 2026 20:29:53 GMT 69e2a694a6791958c58c5eb2 Matthew Graham AM Gains Mostly Stick Around Everything interesting about today occurred before 9am ET (several war-related headlines that prompted a sharp rally in bonds). The rest of the day was spent drifting mostly sideways. Stocks continued their surge to new all-time highs. Oil prices fell in concert with the bond rally, briefly dipping below $80/bbl.  Market Movement Recap 08:41 AM Modest overnight gains and then more buying on war headlines. MBS up over a quarter point and 10yr down 5.3bps at 4.262 01:03 PM MBS up 13 ticks (.41) and 10yr down 8bps at 4.237 04:26 PM little changed as the close approaches. MBS up 10 ticks (.31) and 10yr down 7.2bps at 4.244 Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mortgage-rates-04172026 Fri, 17 Apr 2026 20:06:00 GMT 69e294ce4a73c0343647cff6 Matthew Graham Today was a victory for mortgage rates, but not nearly as much of a victory as the underlying bond market would suggest. The good news is that the end result is the lowest average 30yr fixed rate in just over a month.  The other news isn't bad, per se, but it is a bit confusing.  As we often discuss, mortgage rates are based on bonds because mortgages "turn into" bonds in order to be traded on the secondary market. You don't need to understand that process in detail to accept that it's true.  Case in point, here's a chart* that overlays our average 30yr fixed rate and the most prevalent mortgage-backed security (a bond comprised of a pool of multiple mortgages). Zooming in on Friday, we see bonds breaking lower at a faster pace than mortgage rates. This is actually very normal behavior for mortgage rates--especially when they're falling into the lowest territory of the past few weeks. If the bond market gains are maintained next week, rates should increasingly be willing to close the gap. Conversely, if bonds bounce in the other direction, rates likely will as well, but they'll have some cushion and may not need to bounce as quickly. * in both of today's charts, the right axis shows mortgage-backed securities PRICES. In the bond market, price varies inversely with yield (i.e. higher prices = lower rates). As such, the right axis is inverted (higher values at the bottom) in order to highlight the correlation with rates on the left axis.  Otherwise, the chart would look like a Rorschach test and it would be impossible to detect these subtle changes.  Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/04172026-builder-confidence-nahb-hmi Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:17:00 GMT 69e27a20a576d18cb3bd9be9 Matthew Graham Builder confidence fell sharply in April as rising costs and economic uncertainty weighed on sentiment heading into the spring buying season. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) dropped four points to 34 , its lowest level since September 2025. The decline marks a notable setback after modest gains in recent months, with sentiment remaining firmly below the breakeven level of 50 that separates positive from negative market conditions. All three major components of the index moved lower. The gauge of current sales conditions fell four points to 37 , while the index measuring future sales expectations dropped seven points to 42 . The component tracking prospective buyer traffic declined three points to 22 , reflecting continued softness in demand. “Builder sentiment has fallen back in spring as buyers face ongoing elevated interest rates and growing economic uncertainty,” said NAHB Chairman Bill Owens. He added that geopolitical risks and rising energy costs have further dampened confidence and slowed expected momentum in the housing market. NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz pointed to increasing pressure from higher fuel prices, noting that a majority of builders are seeing rising material costs as a result. He also highlighted that uncertainty around input costs is making it more difficult for builders to price homes, adding another layer of strain on the market. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/04172026-mortgage-applications-mba Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:13:00 GMT 69e278eaa576d18cb3bd9be6 Matthew Graham Mortgage applications ticked higher last week, reversing recent declines as easing rates provided a modest boost to activity. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 1.8% increase on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending April 10. Refinance activity led the gain, with the Refinance Index rising 5% from the previous week and now sitting 15% above year-ago levels. The increase follows a pullback in rates, which helped restore some borrower incentive after several weeks of weakening demand. Purchase activity remained soft, with the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index slipping 1% week over week. On an annual basis, purchase applications are down 3% , marking a second consecutive week of year-over-year declines as buyer hesitation persists. MBA’s Joel Kan said, " This dip in rates helped to support an increase in conventional refinance applications, which had declined for five consecutive weeks. Purchase activity remained subdued as potential homebuyers remained hesitant given the current economic uncertainty, which kept purchase applications below last year’s level for the second consecutive week..." Application composition shifted toward refinancing, with refinance share increasing to 45.5% from 44.3% the prior week. ARM share decreased slightly to 8.4% . FHA share fell to 18.2% , while VA share declined to 15.7% and USDA share held steady at 0.5% . Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full