Mortgage news and guidance: current rates, points and buydowns, affordability, and how financing shifts affect homebuyers and homeowners in 2026.
Better Home & Finance Holding Company named board member Daniel Lewis interim CEO, succeeding founder Vishal Garg, as the online mortgage lender reports preliminary Q2 results and accelerates cost cuts.
Two Florida homebuyers filed a class action July 29 accusing LGI Homes, loanDepot and their mortgage joint venture of hiding true home costs and steering renters into loans they could not afford.
OriginPoint has hired loan officers Erin Halliday and Jon Levin, a $165 million-a-year production team, from New American Funding to grow its presence in California and Hawaii.
JPMorganChase will deploy $750 billion through 2035 under its American Dream Initiative, aiming to finance 1 million affordable housing units and help 500,000 people buy homes, including 200,000 first-time buyers.
Two Harbors Investment Corp.’s $11.30-a-share cash sale to CrossCountry Mortgage, which beat out a rival UWM bid, was delayed past its planned Aug. 3 closing pending one final state regulatory approval.
Blackstone will pay roughly A$36 billion for HSBC’s Australian home loan book, the largest residential mortgage portfolio transaction on record, as HSBC retreats from Australian retail banking.
Permanent loan modifications on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans rose 4.7% in April even as total foreclosure-prevention actions fell 8.7%, FHFA data shows, as the GSEs shift toward shorter forbearance periods.
The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge fell 0.1% for the month in June, the first monthly decline in six years, even as annual PCE inflation stayed at 3.7% and the personal saving rate dropped to its lowest since 2022.
The OCC and FDIC proposed amendments to Community Reinvestment Act rules that would exempt banks under $10 billion in assets from certain reporting requirements and narrow which retail banking services count toward CRA credit.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.66% this week, its highest level in a year, as Freddie Mac’s weekly survey showed borrowing costs extending a multi-week climb.
The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate steady on July 29 in a 9-3 vote, with three officials pushing for a hike — an unusually hawkish split that leaves mortgage rates likely to hold near current levels into the fall.
Redwood Trust finalized a joint venture giving its Aspire mortgage banking platform up to $8 billion in purchasing power, as the company’s overall mortgage production topped $8 billion for a second straight quarter.
Freddie Mac’s second-quarter net income climbed 61% from a year earlier to $3.8 billion, lifting the mortgage giant’s net worth to $78 billion as it keeps building capital toward eventual release from federal conservatorship.
PennyMac Financial Services posted an 84% year-over-year drop in second-quarter net income as elevated mortgage rates weighed on loan production, even as the company’s servicing portfolio and total revenue both grew.
U.S. mortgage applications dropped 6.4% for the week ending July 24 as the 30-year fixed rate climbed to 6.76%, its highest level since August 2025, MBA data show.
Fannie Mae reported Q2 2026 net income of $4.0 billion, up 20% year over year, as single-family purchase acquisitions rose $17.9 billion and multifamily delinquencies improved.
A federal judge dismissed a class action alleging Zillow steered homebuyers to its own mortgage unit, ruling plaintiffs lacked standing, but gave them until Aug. 17 to refile.
The 30-year mortgage rate hit its highest level since August 2025 this week, just as the Fed meets under Chair Kevin Warsh. Here’s what’s verified, and what’s still just a theory about rates going up now and down later.
Rocket has sued United Wholesale Mortgage for at least $100 million, alleging UWM violated a non-solicitation agreement tied to mortgage-servicing rights on loans Mr. Cooper bought from UWM in 2024. UWM calls the suit baseless.
New FHA-backed mortgage defaults fell 15% year over year in June, the largest annual decline in more than four years, even as overall delinquencies and foreclosure activity ticked higher, ICE Mortgage Technology reports.
JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America grew mortgage originations roughly 32% on average in Q2 β banks are competing for home loans again.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.58% this week, its highest level of 2026 and a third straight weekly increase, Freddie Mac’s survey shows.
HUD’s 14-change FHA package streamlines appraisal reviews, eases 203(k) renovation draws and cuts duplicate paperwork β modest but real borrower savings.
Title insurers wrote $4.5 billion in Q1 premiums, up from $3.9 billion, while claims fell β a clean confirmation that transaction volume is recovering.
A July survey found 34% of economists expecting a Fed hike next β quadruple January’s share. Days later, June’s CPI drop rewrote the story.
The OCC’s Q1 report tracks 10.2 million bank-serviced mortgages β $2.6 trillion, 19.1% of the market β the regulator-grade check on mortgage health.
The MBA’s credit availability index fell 2% in June, led by a 4.6% drop in FHA and VA programs β tightening options for stretched borrowers.
June’s CPI fell 0.4% β the largest monthly drop since April 2020 β cutting annual inflation to 3.5% and cooling expectations of another Fed hike.
A Florida man received 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in an appraisal-fraud scheme prosecutors tied to $65 million in defective loans.
Debt-to-income ratio can make or break a mortgage application. How lenders calculate DTI and the limits that matter in 2026.
Get expert insights, market updates, and new opportunities delivered to your inbox.