http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n Mortgage Newsletters Archive https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260828 Fri, 28 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Fri, 28 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260828 Mortgage application activity softened last week, with both purchase and refinance demand moving lower as mortgage rates climbed to their highest level in three weeks. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 1.0% decrease in total application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending August 21. Purchase applications were down 0.3% from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis and 5% below the same week one year ago. FHA applications accounted for much of the weekly decline, falling 7% . Refinance demand also lost some ground. The Refinance Index fell 2% from the previous week and remained 17% below year-ago levels. FHA and VA refinance applications saw particularly notable declines, while the average refinance loan size fell to its Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260827 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260827 Mortgage rates barely budged again on Thursday, but there was far less data to digest compared to Wednesday. Bonds (which dictate rates) were steady to slightly weaker. The "weaker" part connotes higher rates, but the weakness was late in the day and too small for most mortgage lenders to do anything about it. What does that mean? Unlike the actual bond market, which can move every millisecond, mortgage lenders only change rates 1-3 times per day, and it's usually only once per day unless market volatility is high enough. Today's volatility didn't quite clear the bar. If bonds had lost slightly more ground, we might have seen a few lenders raise rates this afternoon. With that in mind, lenders are heading into tomorrow at a bit of a disadvantage. In other words, if bonds don't Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260826 Wed, 26 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Wed, 26 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260826 Intraday volatility in the bond market can make it tricky to track day over day changes in mortgage rates . Lenders publish the day's first rates based on bond market prices around 9:30-10:00am ET, but things can change if bonds move enough.  Yesterday, bonds improved enough in the afternoon for many lenders to offer lower rates. If we compare today's rates to yesterday afternoon's better examples, we're slightly worse off now. But if we compare to yesterday morning, we're slightly better. At times like this, if you're just looking for a general sense of how the rate landscape is evolving, it can be more useful to simply track underlying bond market trends. A 10yr or 5yr Treasury yield is a good approximation of mortgage bond movement. Whether we use Treasuries or mortgage-backed s Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260825 Tue, 25 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Tue, 25 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260825 Fuel prices continue dictating most of the day-to-day momentum for interest rates and today was a notable example. Early this morning, news reports suggested progress in the peace process via Pakistani mediators. Oil prices dropped sharply in response and bond yields followed the move. Bond yields correlate with mortgage rates . When yields are falling, mortgage lenders are generally able to offer lower rates than they otherwise would have, depending on the timing and size of the move.  In today's case, it was good for a 0.04% drop in average top-tier 30yr fixed mortgage rates--resulting in the lowest levels in nearly a week.  [thirtyyearmortgagerates] Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260824 Mon, 24 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Mon, 24 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260824 Mortgage rates are based on bonds, but whereas bonds improved slightly from Friday's levels, mortgage rates are microscopically higher for the average lender. The issue is timing. Mortgage lenders set rates last Friday during a time of day when bonds were at their best levels. In other words, today's improvement is only an improvement relative to Friday's closing levels. If we were to compare just the time of day when lenders set mortgage rates, bonds are flat to slightly weaker. Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260821 Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260821 Residential construction pulled back in July as housing starts and completions declined from June levels, while building permits rebounded. The latest Census Bureau data suggests builders remained cautious about active construction, even as the increase in permits pointed to somewhat stronger activity ahead. Privately owned housing starts fell 12.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.239 million , down 13.5% from the July 2025 pace. Single-family starts declined 9.9% to 808k , while starts for buildings containing five units or more fell to 421k . Building permits reversed course as well, increasing 5.0% from June to an annual rate of 1.443 million , and were 3.1% above the July 2025 rate. Single-family authorizations rose 2.5% to 894k , while permits Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260820 Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260820 While Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage rate survey may show rates moving slightly lower this week, today's rates are actually higher than they were at the same time last week (6.76% vs 6.69%). Financial news continued to focus on yesterday's announcement of Treasury buybacks after Secretary Bessent spoke on CNBC this morning, but today's bump in rates had more to do with fuel prices. Treasury yields serve as an almost perfect proxy for intraday rate movement with 10yr yields often seen as the most common at-a-glance benchmark for mortgage rate movement (i.e. they tend to move in the same direction by roughly similar amounts). 10yr yields and oil prices were at the lows of the day at 1am. Oil rose fairly quickly through 8am ET and Treasury yields followed. Both peaked at exactly the same t Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260819 Wed, 19 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Wed, 19 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260819 Mortgage rates dropped on Wednesday due to a combination of lower oil prices and the announcement of changes to Treasury's bond buyback program. The oil price angle is easy to understand. Throughout the war, higher fuel prices have caused volatility in inflation expectations and inflation is a critical consideration for bonds/rates.  The Treasury buyback news is more complex and highly oversimplified by the average piece of media coverage. Here are the details that matter: The original buyback program began in 2024 under the Biden admin when Yellen was the Treasury secretary It is not quantitative easing or "new money creation."  Treasury gets money from issuing bonds or via other federal receipts (taxes, tariffs, etc) The program was continued/expanded under Trump/ Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260818 Tue, 18 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Tue, 18 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260818 Mortgage rates rose for the third straight day on Tuesday with the average top-tier 30yr fixed rate moving up a modest 0.02% to 6.75%. Notably, the bond market was actually in slightly better shape compared to yesterday--something that would normally be good news for rates. So what's the catch? As is often the case when bonds and mortgages disagree, the x factor is timing. Mortgage lenders prefer to release rates once per day (usually around 10am ET) and they only change rates if the underlying bond market makes a big enough move in either direction.   Bonds lost ground yesterday, but not enough for the average lender to go to the trouble of raising the rates set earlier in the day. As such, lenders had to adjust for that bond market weakness with this morning's offerings. Ironica Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260817 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT Mon, 17 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/newsletter/n/20260817 After ending last week near the lowest level since July 17th, mortgage rates are moving up to start the new week. Motivations are familiar. Escalation in U.S./Iran tensions is pushing fuel prices higher and bond yields continue to correlate. Bond yields correlate with consumer interest rates with near perfection. In mortgage-specific terms, the average top-tier 30yr fixed rate moved up 0.02% today to 6.73%. This is still much lower than the most recent high of 6.85%, but not quite as low as last Thursday's 6.69%. Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/newsletter