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Existing-Home Sales Ease Slightly, Remain Above Year-Ago Levels

8/14/2026 2:10 PM

Existing-home sales remained relatively stable in July despite elevated mortgage rates, with activity declining modestly from June while remaining above year-ago levels. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, sales fell 1.7% from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million , but were 0.7% higher than in July 2025. ...Read More

As Expected, Mortgage Apps Bounce in Response to Rate Reversal

8/14/2026 2:06 PM

Mortgage application activity rebounded last week as a moderate decline in mortgage rates provided some relief for both homebuyers and homeowners considering a refinance. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 3.6% increase in total application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending August 7. Purchase applications i...Read More

Mortgage Rates Slightly Higher to End The Week

8/14/2026 1:56 PM

First, the bad news: mortgage rates ended the day just a hair higher compared to Thursday, but the change was so small that many borrowers will see little--if any--difference in pricing. Now the good news: apart from yesterday afternoon, today"s rates would still be the lowest in 4 weeks (i.e. you"d have to go back to July 17th to see anything low...Read More

Wholesale Lender, POS, Mortgage Intelligence Tools; Non-Agency Trends: Who"s Doing What?

8/14/2026 10:43 AM

If you think that profit per loan, or gain per unit, is based purely on size, think about this short video. “Profit” can also be a personal measure in terms of income versus expenses. Owning a home is all about having a job and spending less than you earn. Bankrate’s 2025 Wage to Inflation Index revealed that prices rose 23 percent since the start ...Read More

Good Luck Making Sense of Retail Sales Reaction

8/14/2026 9:01 AM

Based on a few research papers that have attempted to quantify the impact of various economic reports as well as the general consensus among economic calendar purveyors, Retail Sales is allegedly a top tier market mover. In fact, a somewhat recent attempt by CME to rank econ data has in 5th place ahead of CPI, PPI, and PCE. But in our experien...Read More

Solid Data-Driven Gains

8/13/2026 4:10 PM

Solid Data-Driven Gains Thursday was a fairly straightforward session for bonds. Yields fell modestly overnight in response to slightly lower oil prices and then more forcefully after the cooler-than-expected PPI data. Mid-day fuel price volatility caused a slight pull-back, but not enough to undo a reasona...Read More

Lowest Mortgage Rates in Nearly 4 Weeks

8/13/2026 3:07 PM

Mortgage rates dropped noticeably on Thursday on a combination of lower oil prices and a lower inflation reading via the Producer Price Index (PPI). Rates are driven by bonds and bonds are highly responsive to the outlook for inflation and the economy. The Iran war caused inflation implications to spike and the periodic relief in fuel prices has co...Read More

Home Buyer Aid, eClosing, Marketing tools; Texas Insurance Study; Spec Pool Price Volatility

8/13/2026 10:45 AM

Innovation, compliance, and affordability were key themes at this week’s Western Secondary. At the state level, for example, Kinder Institute report shows homeowners insurance has become a growing barrier to housing affordability across Texas. As Texas leaders search for ways to rein in soaring homeowner insurance costs, new research suggests premi...Read More

Thank You PPI

8/13/2026 8:51 AM

If nothing else, this morning offers confirmation of just how nervous the market is about inflation. The producer price index barely beat its forecast (in fact y/y CORE PPI was on the screws), but this was enough for bonds to add on to modest overnight gains in a modestly enthusiastic way.  We almost never see this much of a reaction to this s...Read More

Bonds End Flat After Front-Running The Decent Data

8/12/2026 4:09 PM

Bonds End Flat After Front-Running The Decent Data We absolutely hate the term "front-running" because it can be perceived as connoting some measure of clairvoyance on the part of the bond market. To be clear, that"s not the contention here. Rather, we noted that bonds were trading somewhat optimistically y...Read More

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