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15th April, 26
Very Small Token Pull-Back
Very Small Token Pull-Back Nothing really happened on Wednesday as far as the bond market was concerned. Yields were technically a few bps higher thus preserving the phenomenon of rally momentum being limited to 48-hour windows since the start of the Iran war. Despite a barrage of war-related headlines, there was remarkably light volatility in oil prices. Markets seem to be waiting on truly momentous developments (such as a major resumption of hostilities or a confirmed/permanent ceasefire). In the meantime, stocks and bonds both did their own thing today without any of the recently typical
Very Small Token Pull-Back
Very Small Token Pull-Back Nothing really happened on Wednesday as far as the bond market was concerned. Yields were technically a few bps higher thus preserving the phenomenon of rally momentum being limited to 48-hour windows since the start of the Iran war. Despite a barrage of war-related headlines, there was remarkably light volatility in oil prices. Markets seem to be waiting on truly momentous developments (such as a major resumption of hostilities or a confirmed/permanent ceasefire). In the meantime, stocks and bonds both did their own thing today without any of the recently typical
15th April, 26
Mortgage Rates Essentially Sideways at Recent Lows
On Tuesday, the average top-tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate hit the lowest level in exactly 4 weeks. If you're not interested in splitting hairs, today's rates are essentially the same. Although our official average is 0.01% higher, that's such a small change that many of today's rate quotes will look the same as yesterday's. In the bigger picture, these rates are about halfway between the highs seen in late March and the lowest rates in more than 3 years seen at the end of February. The bond market (which dictates rates) remains focused on developments in the Iran war, but there's an ever
Mortgage Rates Essentially Sideways at Recent Lows
On Tuesday, the average top-tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate hit the lowest level in exactly 4 weeks. If you're not interested in splitting hairs, today's rates are essentially the same. Although our official average is 0.01% higher, that's such a small change that many of today's rate quotes will look the same as yesterday's. In the bigger picture, these rates are about halfway between the highs seen in late March and the lowest rates in more than 3 years seen at the end of February. The bond market (which dictates rates) remains focused on developments in the Iran war, but there's an ever
15th April, 26
TBA Bidding, HELOC, DSCR, CRM, HMDA Analysis, MI Tools; Events Throughout 2026
According to Curinos’ proprietary application index, March 2026 funded mortgage volume increased 35 percent y-o-y and increased 30 percent m-o-m. How did your company stack up? Curinos calculates that refinance and purchase rates were 5-6 basis points lower m-o-m and about 73 basis points y-o-y. (Curinos sources a statistically significant data set directly from lenders to produce these benchmark figures and drills into this data further here.) (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are Sponsored by Truework. Replace costly, error-prone verification waterfalls with a
TBA Bidding, HELOC, DSCR, CRM, HMDA Analysis, MI Tools; Events Throughout 2026
According to Curinos’ proprietary application index, March 2026 funded mortgage volume increased 35 percent y-o-y and increased 30 percent m-o-m. How did your company stack up? Curinos calculates that refinance and purchase rates were 5-6 basis points lower m-o-m and about 73 basis points y-o-y. (Curinos sources a statistically significant data set directly from lenders to produce these benchmark figures and drills into this data further here.) (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are Sponsored by Truework. Replace costly, error-prone verification waterfalls with a
15th April, 26
Bonds Growing Tired of "Game On! Game Off!" News Cycle
Markets have plenty of war-related headlines to digest at any given moment these days. And while some of those headlines have been the biggest market movers of the month, traders are increasingly focusing on the examples that speak to the biggest-picture changes. Specifically, markets aren't as interested in Wayne and Garth saying "game on" and "game off," but rather, the actual moment that they pack up their sticks and nets and stop playing street hockey for the day (i.e. an announcement that the war is fully over and Hormuz is fully re-opened). In the meantime, the lesser headlines may
Bonds Growing Tired of "Game On! Game Off!" News Cycle
Markets have plenty of war-related headlines to digest at any given moment these days. And while some of those headlines have been the biggest market movers of the month, traders are increasingly focusing on the examples that speak to the biggest-picture changes. Specifically, markets aren't as interested in Wayne and Garth saying "game on" and "game off," but rather, the actual moment that they pack up their sticks and nets and stop playing street hockey for the day (i.e. an announcement that the war is fully over and Hormuz is fully re-opened). In the meantime, the lesser headlines may
14th April, 26
Bonds Ultimately Follow Oil's Lead, Heading Lower On War-Related Optimism
Bonds Ultimately Follow Oil's Lead, Heading Lower War-Related Optimism While there were no incredibly memorable sound bytes on the Iran war today, there were a few headlines that proved to be actionable for financial markets. The most actionable (by a wide margin) was a report on Fox News around 10am quoting a senior admin official as saying "a lot is happening today and tomorrow. We have all the ingredients of a deal, but it's not all there yet." This was paraphrased by Fox as "Senior Trump Admin. Official: Strong Indicators Toward Reaching Agreement With Iran." Oil and bond yields
Bonds Ultimately Follow Oil's Lead, Heading Lower On War-Related Optimism
Bonds Ultimately Follow Oil's Lead, Heading Lower War-Related Optimism While there were no incredibly memorable sound bytes on the Iran war today, there were a few headlines that proved to be actionable for financial markets. The most actionable (by a wide margin) was a report on Fox News around 10am quoting a senior admin official as saying "a lot is happening today and tomorrow. We have all the ingredients of a deal, but it's not all there yet." This was paraphrased by Fox as "Senior Trump Admin. Official: Strong Indicators Toward Reaching Agreement With Iran." Oil and bond yields
14th April, 26
Lowest Mortgage Rates in 4 Weeks
Mortgage rates had their best day of the month so far with the top tier 30yr fixed rate falling 0.08% for the average lender to the lowest levels in exactly 4 weeks. Today's improvement is a bit bigger than today's bond market movement would suggest. The discrepancy is due to timing. Bonds were improving fairly steadily since yesterday morning and the average lender didn't adjust yesterday's rates in response to the bond market improvement in the last few hours of the day. As such, that improvement was tacked on to today's. As for the drivers of the market movement, it's the same old story
Lowest Mortgage Rates in 4 Weeks
Mortgage rates had their best day of the month so far with the top tier 30yr fixed rate falling 0.08% for the average lender to the lowest levels in exactly 4 weeks. Today's improvement is a bit bigger than today's bond market movement would suggest. The discrepancy is due to timing. Bonds were improving fairly steadily since yesterday morning and the average lender didn't adjust yesterday's rates in response to the bond market improvement in the last few hours of the day. As such, that improvement was tacked on to today's. As for the drivers of the market movement, it's the same old story
14th April, 26
MERS Review, TPO, Virtual LO, Digital Ass't, HELOC, Warehouse Products; Policy Moves for LOs to Watch
Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders Meet the Axos Warehouse Lending and WCPL teams at MBA’s Secondary & Capital Markets Conference, May 17–20, 2026, at the Marriott Marquis New York. Axos Warehouse Lending helps mortgage lenders fund efficiently with a streamlined process and reliable execution, built for clarity, consistency, and confidence across market cycles. Axos WCPL (Wholesale, Correspondent, and Portfolio Lending) helps lenders broaden solutions for complex borrower profiles with experienced underwriting, broad asset acceptance, and support across occupancy
MERS Review, TPO, Virtual LO, Digital Ass't, HELOC, Warehouse Products; Policy Moves for LOs to Watch
Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders Meet the Axos Warehouse Lending and WCPL teams at MBA’s Secondary & Capital Markets Conference, May 17–20, 2026, at the Marriott Marquis New York. Axos Warehouse Lending helps mortgage lenders fund efficiently with a streamlined process and reliable execution, built for clarity, consistency, and confidence across market cycles. Axos WCPL (Wholesale, Correspondent, and Portfolio Lending) helps lenders broaden solutions for complex borrower profiles with experienced underwriting, broad asset acceptance, and support across occupancy
14th April, 26
Why Aren't Bonds Responding to a Big Beat in Inflation Data?
Bonds were fairly flat overnight and haven't moved much so far in the domestic session. More importantly, until 7am, bonds were slightly weaker even as oil prices have fallen and stocks have rallied. What gives?! If PPI had come in much higher than expected, it would be easier to explain. But despite the 0.1 vs 0.5 reading for core monthly numbers, the PPI components that track with the more important PCE inflation metrics were actually a bit higher. In addition, the ill effects of fuel prices have already wreaked havoc on March inflation data. If we assume (and we should) that
Why Aren't Bonds Responding to a Big Beat in Inflation Data?
Bonds were fairly flat overnight and haven't moved much so far in the domestic session. More importantly, until 7am, bonds were slightly weaker even as oil prices have fallen and stocks have rallied. What gives?! If PPI had come in much higher than expected, it would be easier to explain. But despite the 0.1 vs 0.5 reading for core monthly numbers, the PPI components that track with the more important PCE inflation metrics were actually a bit higher. In addition, the ill effects of fuel prices have already wreaked havoc on March inflation data. If we assume (and we should) that
13th April, 26
Weekend Selling Reverses After Another Round of De-Escalation Headlines
Weekend Selling Reverses After Another Round of De-Escalation Headlines Another day, another chance to sort through a barrage of war-related headlines to see which ones mattered to the bond market. In today's case, there were two distinct contenders. The first was apparently bogus. It referred to Iran considering abandoning its enrichment program and it actually caused a visible surge in volume and volatility. The second contender was a batch of headlines around 12:30ET that generally spoke to de-escalation potential and negotiation possibilities. All told, it was enough to reverse the
Weekend Selling Reverses After Another Round of De-Escalation Headlines
Weekend Selling Reverses After Another Round of De-Escalation Headlines Another day, another chance to sort through a barrage of war-related headlines to see which ones mattered to the bond market. In today's case, there were two distinct contenders. The first was apparently bogus. It referred to Iran considering abandoning its enrichment program and it actually caused a visible surge in volume and volatility. The second contender was a batch of headlines around 12:30ET that generally spoke to de-escalation potential and negotiation possibilities. All told, it was enough to reverse the
13th April, 26
Mortgage Rates Hold Steady Over The Weekend
Mortgage rates are based on movement in the bond market and although bonds experienced some volatility in response to Iran war news over the weekend, they ended up in similar territory to Friday morning. As such, it's no surprise to see mortgage rates in similar territory as well. The average lender began the day 0.02% higher than Friday, but bonds improved during the day and some mortgage lenders were able to make small downward adjustments mid-day. This keep the average top-tier 30yr fixed rate just below 6.40% for the third straight day. From 5.99% in late February, rates spiked as
Mortgage Rates Hold Steady Over The Weekend
Mortgage rates are based on movement in the bond market and although bonds experienced some volatility in response to Iran war news over the weekend, they ended up in similar territory to Friday morning. As such, it's no surprise to see mortgage rates in similar territory as well. The average lender began the day 0.02% higher than Friday, but bonds improved during the day and some mortgage lenders were able to make small downward adjustments mid-day. This keep the average top-tier 30yr fixed rate just below 6.40% for the third straight day. From 5.99% in late February, rates spiked as