High Five!

By Jeff Walton & Kelly Guest

March 02, 2026

There were a lot of medals, but not a lot of surprises at last week's State of the Union Address, during and after which most people heard what they wanted to hear based on their political leanings. National Mortgage Professional wrote a piece describing how Trump laid out achievements and strategies for housing. As rates dipped into the 5-zone for the first time in 3 and ½ years, HW's Logan Mohtashami asks, “Will war with Iran send mortgage rates higher or lower?”

Table of Contents

CHATTER

Trade Groups Join Together to Ease Capital Requirements, Etc.

Independent Community Bankers of America and other groups sent a letter to the Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC advocating for changes to bank capital rules. ICBA and the other groups suggest how the BASEL III capital rules could be amended to encourage more bank participation in mortgage origination and servicing business.

 

Old Guard vs. New?

Considering Credit Changes: The Banter Continues with New Analysis Calls Out “Score Shopping”

Results of the study demonstrated that moving away from the tri-merge standard could potentially increase the risk that originators and consumers score shop during the origination process by choosing the credit score (or lender) that produces the lending outcome they desire.

Even in the absence of score shopping, such a moving from the tri-merge could lead to less accurate pricing and mortgage qualification.

Minority and lower-scoring borrowers would be more heavily impacted. Ultimately, if investors require higher compensation for greater uncertainty, mortgage rates could be higher for everyone.

VantageScore has a different view: Mortgage credit score competition lowers cost, reduces mortgage risks and improves predictive performance,” said Tony Hutchinson, EVP and Head of Public Affairs at VantageScore. 

 

Building Up Brokers

UMortgage Launched Flat Fee Model to Help Brokers Scale

From the press release: "The mortgage industry is shifting toward third-party origination. A HousingWire study found that the broker channel grew by 12.5% in 2025, while mortgage bankers and retail lenders declined headcount by 11.7% across the same period. UMortgage's new broker model is designed to meet this shift with a broker-first platform that makes it easier to compete and grow."

 

Rocket Pro doubles broker credits with Compass deal, unveils ‘Jupiter’ LOS:  HW & Every Other Trade

Rocket Pro announced a partnership with Compass to offer additional credits to brokers, and feature Compass listings on its Redfin platform.

It also unveiled a new loan origination system during its Ignite26 event on Thursday.

Under a new program called Pro Purchase Power, brokers will receive 40 basis points when working with a Compass buyer’s agent, on top of the 40 bps already offered through Rocket Pro

 

More Options: Rate Intros Program, Joins Crypto Fray

Rate introduced RateFi, which removes unnecessary friction from the mortgage process so buyers with cryptocurrency assets can build wealth without sacrificing the assets they believe in.

This new mortgage product is designed to bridge the gap between digital assets and traditional home financing. 

 

UWM Released Q4 & Full Year 25 Results

  • Originations of $49.6B in Q425, compared to $41.7B in Q325 and $38.7B in Q424

  • Originations of $163.4B in 2025, compared to $139.4B in 2024

 

Rocket Released Q4 & Full Year 25 Results

  • Generated $35.6B in net rate lock volume and $41.0B in closed loan volume, excluding correspondent. Gain on sale margin, excluding correspondent, was 3.20%. These three Q4 2025 metrics were the highest for a fourth quarter in four years.

  • Generated $132.0B in total net rate lock volume and $130.4B in total closed mortgage loan origination volume. Total gain on sale margin was 2.83%.

MOVING & SHAKING

Fuad Nasir joined Optimal Blue as VP of hedging and trading.

 

Fairway Home Mortgage partners with Baldwin Group to offer homeowners insurance during the origination process.

 

loanDepot exec Alex Madonna departed to start Trust One Financial.

 

Newday USA appointed former HUD Deputy Secretary and FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery as Vice Chairman.

 

ServiceLink promoted Erin Reed to SVP of valuation.

 

Onity Group added former Truist exec Aulene Wessel as SVP & Chief Accounting Officer.

 

Ohio-based builder Bill Owens elected 2026 Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

 

Jet Mortgage named Greg Austin EVP of wholesale.

 

Click n' Close named Rachel Fatino as director of correspondent operations.

MARKET/INDUSTRY 

"Line in the Sand & Lenny Kravitz" are the themes of the week according to Bill Bodnar in his latest Master the Marketssegment. Find out what to watch and why this is a huge week for the industry!

 

Mortgage Rates Drop Below 6% for the First Time in 3.5 Years: Freddie 2-26-26

 

Mortgage Applications Increased 0.4% from One Week Earlier: MBA Weekly Survey for the week ending 2-20-26. 

Homebuyer affordability declined in January, with the national median payment applied for by purchase applicants increasing to $2,070 from $2,025 in December. This is according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI). It was the first increase in 7 months.

 

Recalibration vs. Reset: realtor.com Report

  • "Four years into this higher-rate environment, it's clear that the housing market recalibrated rather than reset," said Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com®.

  • "Supply and demand moved in the directions economic theory would suggest, but prices proved far more resilient than many anticipated, leaving today's affordability challenges firmly in place. "

  • Looking forward, the real test is whether market activity can normalize without reigniting price pressure. That will depend on easing lock-in, stronger new listing growth, and fewer de-listings."

 

Balance Favors Buyers?

Buyer Boon: Redfin Says There Are 44% More Sellers than Buyers

  • The number of homebuyers in the market fell 1% month over month and 8% year over year in January to an estimated 1.36 million—the lowest level on record. Note: Redfin records only go back to 2017.

  • There are 600,000 more home sellers than buyers, giving the buyers who are in the market negotiating power.

  • Only five metro areas are seller’s markets, most of which are located in the Northeast. The South and West are home to the strongest buyer’s markets.

 

Perspective Necessary: Record # of Homes Fall Out in January - Redfin

Nearly 40,000 home-sale agreements nationwide were canceled in January, equal to 13.7% of homes that went under contract that month. That’s up from 13.1% a year earlier, and the highest January share in records dating back to 2017, when Redfin began tracking this stat.

 

Not From Around Here

Out-of-Town Eyeballs: realtor.com Report Says People Interested in Moving On

  • In Q425, 61.9% of online views for homes in the 100 largest metros came from out-of-market shoppers—up from 48.6% in Q419, signaling a structural shift in demand.

  • Homes in Southern metros attract the highest share of out-of-metro interest, while Northeastern metros have seen the fastest demand growth from out-of-market shoppers over the past six years.

  • In Q425, just 13 of the 100 largest metros were dominated by local home shoppers—led by New York, NY, where high prices continue to limit entry from out-of-market buyers. However, the dominance of local shoppers is fading across all these markets.

Challenging NAR Numbers

Debunking NAR Numbers: Redfin Says Median Buyer Age is 35

  • The median age of first-time buyers dipped slightly from 2024 to 2025, from 36 to 35.

  • For repeat buyers, the median age is 47, down from a peak of 52.

  • Redfin determined the median age of homebuyers using U.S. Census Bureau data; this report includes a methodological dive into why our data differs from NAR’s.

Not a Lot of Zombies: ATTOM Data Q126 Zombie Foreclosure Rates by State Report 

The number of homes abandoned while in the pre-foreclosure process, remained relatively stable yet historically low in the first quarter of 2026. Of the roughly 230,401 residential properties nationwide in foreclosure during the quarter, just 3.27% were classified as zombie foreclosures.

Low zombie foreclosure rates reflect continued housing demand and strong homeowner equity, with most distressed properties still occupied or actively managed.

 

Rent Retreat: Cotality Single Family Rent Index (SFRI)

“The single-family rental market ended 2025 on a notably softer trajectory. 35 of the 50 largest metros posted slower annual rent growth in December 2025 than in December 2024.

“Overall rent growth remains near 15 year lows, yet the high priced tier continues to track close to its long run trend, underscoring the K shaped dynamics shaping today’s housing market. Affordability pressures remain front of mind for budget-constrained renters as these conditions persist.” - Molly Boesel, senior principal economist at Cotality

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