Mortgage Rate Intelligence & Market Updates

Letter to FHFA says the added data could improve MBS transparency and reduce recurring credit score cost increases

Exclusive HousingWire coverage from CMLS: Reffkin said Compass could file antitrust suits by mid-October and set an October 6 deadline

Deal is backed by 218 loans, plus a $98.5M accumulation account and a two-year revolving structure

Exclusive coverage from CMLS: Samuelson cited Hill scrutiny of Compass and MRED and warned data restrictions could invite regulation

At AIME Fuse in Austin, Mark Hairston and Shara Parker shared successful borrower scenarios for unlocking nearly $15 trillion in U.S. senior home equity

As incentives and input costs squeeze homebuilder margins, controlling product complexity earlier can create another lever for protecting profitability

Anthony Whiteside becomes president, while Scott Bristol joins as EVP of national sales

Time flies. The last day of the third quarter. We just wrapped up Fat Bear Week 2026 in Alaska. (Congrats to Backpack.) Ringo Starr is 86 years old, and doing well: clean living, being active, and a sense of humor. I mention this because when he was born, a letter was 3 cents to mail. Do companies still have mailrooms and mail bags? Let’s dip into my “electronic mail bag” and see what some readers are thinking about. “Rob, the Administration has a choice in housing: keep prices high and protect existing owners, or let prices fall and restore affordability for the next generation. You can’t do both.” I agree. “Rob, regarding the new credit models… It seems like the one direct thing nobody wants to ask out loud is, ‘If you pull a set of FICO scores, and decide they are too low you pull a set of VantageScores and they barely qualify, so you go with that. Is that fraud? How is that different than seeing child support on a pay stub, so the LO just obtains a VOE and hope they don’t write it?” Good question. “Rob, the Trump Administration is accusing other countries of ‘stealing our AI.’ Can’t we ask our own AI how to make itself immune to that and stop it?” Good question… I don’t know. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are presented by Gateless, intelligent automation that gives you the competitive edge. Gateless solutions reduce costs, deliver a superior borrower experience, and mitigate risk by automating tasks and decisions historically made by people. Today’s has an interview with Fairway Independent Mortgage’s Steve Jacobsen on the evolving nature of mortgage lending, product expansion, leadership and more.)

Core PCE came in at 0.2 vs a 0.3 forecast, and the bond market rallied a bit in response. That said, the unrounded number was .247, which about as high as it could be without rounding up to 0.3. Core annual PCE was 3.0, which was flat versus a downward revision from 3.3. More importantly, that downward revision wasn’t mainly about new data collection showing lower prices, but rather a change in PCE methodology. Not all of the methodology change is transparent, but our best estimate is that a vast majority of the 0.3 downward revision was due to methodology changes (the math: 0.361 unrounded drop in y/y core PCE, July vs July, and 0.30 of that drop is in categories that were affected by methodology changes). Bottom line, inflation was actually fairly flat, and supercore (excludes food/energy/housing) was noticeably higher. Add the stronger ADP and GDP numbers into the mix, and bonds don’t have a lot to celebrate this morning, so merely holding ground is a victory.  Bottom line, y/y core PCE was HIGHER in August vs July before both rounded to 3.0%.