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See Ya Summer
By Jeff Walton & Kelly Guest
InGeniusly Speaking took Labor Day off, but this edition catches you up on highlights from the days leading up to the weekend that declared summer officially over. Realtor.com opined that these last few months are different from 2025’s “Cruel Summer;” but even though NAR says home sales are pacing 1.6% ahead of last year at this time, the improvement isn’t necessarily translating into consumer sentiment as conflict in the Middle East and high gas prices continue.
Table of Contents
CHATTER
And They’re Off: Rocket Kicks Off Conforming Loan Limit Race
The company announced its limit will be $854K ahead of FHFA releasing its annual update.
CrossCountry Mortgage jumped right in too, increasing its agency conforming loan limits to $845,000, up from the current 2026 limit of $832,750.
A 2nd Asset Locked Up: Better Won’t Pay Back Bitcoin Until Mortgage is Fully Repaid or Refinanced
· Better Mortgage may rehypothecate bitcoin pledged by borrowers using its newly available Coinbase-powered home loan, and customers cannot recover the collateral until their conventional mortgage is repaid or refinanced.
· A borrower receives two loans at closing. The first is a standard Fannie Mae-conforming mortgage secured by the home, while the second funds the cash down payment and is secured by the borrower’s bitcoin, as well as a second lien on the same property.
· Better told CoinDesk that pre-applications have, since the launch to the general public, reached $360 million in requested loan volume, up from the $260 million projected by borrowers who joined its earlier waitlist.
Credit Crusades
“Credit Bureaus are Cartels”: FHFA Dir Bill Pulte Sounds Off on New Models
HW Article: Bill Pulte announced the FHFA is "seriously considering" a bi-merge or single credit report option to reduce costs for consumers. Criticizing FICO's pricing monopoly, Pulte instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to immediately approve all lenders to use VantageScore 4.0.
Credit Revolution? FHA Sets Jan 1 Start Date for VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T - NMP
· The lack of lender-specific FHA announcements leaves originators without an immediate list of companies that will offer either model. Brokers will need to determine which scoring options their wholesale partners accept and whether borrowers can be evaluated under more than one model.
· The rollout comes as federal officials consider broader changes to the mortgage credit-reporting system. FHFA is also studying whether lenders could rely on a single credit report instead of the traditional tri-merge report, a change the agency has linked to lowering borrowing costs.
· The initiatives address separate parts of the process. FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 change how credit information is evaluated. A move away from tri-merge reports could change how much bureau information lenders obtain.
· Together, those changes could require lenders to update contracts, automated underwriting systems, quality-control procedures, and borrower-disclosure workflows.
· The Jan. 1 start date gives FHA lenders two modern scoring options. Whether borrowers experience that choice will depend on how many lenders actually use them.
Lawsuit Settlement Realigns Rules: NWMLS/Compass - HW
· Changes attitude from “what MLS will allow brokers to do,” to “what works for the consumers/market”
· “First Look” – up to 21 days, all brokers can see listing – IDX distribution flexible
· Pricing adjustments/testing during First Look will not show up on public-facing MLS/IDX
· Sellers control if showings can occur during 21-day period
· Must clearly display listing broker/agent data
· NWMLS watermark removed from listing photos (that agents pay for!)
Escrow Issues
A Fine Line: D.R. Horton in Court Over Escrow “Estimates” - NMN
· The mega-builder is facing a class-action racketeering challenge in which borrowers allege that property taxes are underestimated to show artificially low payment amounts.
· Borrowers claim massive payment increases after loan servicers reassess their escrow accounts.
· Horton claims “new construction is typically assessed by local officials with lower tax rates when loans close, and that borrowers signed notices explaining their escrow amounts would be reassessed.”
MOVING & SHAKING
NEXA announced that Geri Farr has been named Chief Executive Officer, marking the next evolution of a leadership structure designed to separate the responsibility of operating the company from the responsibility of imagining what the company becomes next. Mike Kortas will transition from CEO into the role of Executive Partner, NEXA's highest earned level of leadership.
Dark Matter named Salvatore Piccola as SVP of Product Strategy and Gil Valera as VP of Professional Services.
PLACE appointed Chad Smith as Envoy Mortgage CEO.
MISMO announced the addition of three mortgage industry leaders to its Board of Directors: Anthony Hutchinson, Executive Vice President and Head of Public Affairs at VantageScore; Gemma Currier, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategic Initiatives at Guild Mortgage Company; and Eric Lapin, Vice President, Head of Market Strategy and Intelligence at FICO.
HomeServices of America Ventures into Servicing via Prosperity Home Mortgage - HW
Stewart Expands Out: announced it has acquired ProTitleUSA (ProTitle) and DocSolutionUSA (DocSolution), two companies that together provide a comprehensive suite of title, mortgage related documents and due diligence services that support servicers, investors and capital markets clients throughout the real estate and mortgage lifecycle. “By combining complementary title, document, and transaction capabilities, we're helping customers execute faster, reduce complexity, and manage risk across the full asset lifecycle.” - Beth Fowler, President of Stewart Lender Services
Concierge Service: Rocket Pro Launches Moving Squad to Snag UWM Brokers
They’re offering $10K for referrals who make the move, each new recruit gets an Account Exec, Director of Growth, Crew Director, Exec Trainer. Rocket makes three promises to facilitate move in 10 days or less: 1) Get a custom transition plan, 2) Rocket Pro connects team and tech, 3) Submit first loan in 10 days or less.
MARKET/INDUSTRY
Will the Fed hike rates this week?
We'll find out Wednesday. Friday brought a little relief to an otherwise tough week…Bill Bodnar breaks it down in his latest Master the Markets segment.
Mortgage Rates Average 6.76%: Freddie 9-10-26
Mortgage Applications Decreased 2.7% from One Week Earlier: MBA Weekly Survey for the week ending 9-4-26.
August Down 2.0%: NAR August EHS
Month-Over-Month
· 2.0% decrease in existing-home sales—seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million in August
· 3.2% increase in unsold inventory—1.62 million units equal to 4.9 months’ supply
Year-Over-Year
· 1.2% decrease in existing-home sales
· 1.6% increase in median existing-home sales price to $429,100
“Mortgage rates and home sales move in opposite directions, so it's not surprising to see a mild dip in home buying activity due to high mortgage rates. Still, home prices are rising, and existing home sales are actually up 1.6% year-to-date through the first eight months of the year. Homebuying demand, despite higher interest rates, is no doubt being supported by rising wages, which grew 3.1% in August, along with 643,000 net new jobs added since the start of the year. Job creation and wage growth typically drive housing demand.”
“The number of months it would take to exhaust the total inventory at the current sales pace has grown to 4.9 months’ supply—its highest level in over ten years. The ample supply of homes for sale on the market is giving homebuyers better opportunities to negotiate.” - NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
Insurance Costs are the Headline: ICE Mortgage Monitor 9-26
Property insurance accounts for 9.6% of the average monthly mortgage payment
The average single-family mortgage holder now pays a record $209 per month for insurance, nearly 80% more than at the start of 2020. The burden varies widely by market, ranging from 24.3% of the average mortgage payment in New Orleans to just 4.3% in San Jose.
Property insurance costs rose 8.7% annually, but the pace of growth is slowing
Cost increases have eased from 11.4% at the start of the year and a peak of 15.1% at the end of 2024. Coverage limits, which are up 5.5%, accounted for roughly two-thirds of the past year’s increase, while the cost per $1,000 of coverage rose 3%. This is a reversal from 2024, when repricing drove the majority of cost growth.
Switching carriers produces significant savings for homeowners
Homeowners who switched between private carriers over the last year, reduced their insurance payments by a record 6.6% on average, the largest savings since ICE began tracking the data in 2013. By contrast, those who stayed with their existing carrier saw premiums increase by 10.4%. Switchers saved $440 a year compared to their counterparts, while also maintaining favorable terms, with deductibles falling 1.4% and coverage limits increasing 7.3%. More regional savings trends can be found in the full report.
· Nearly 548,000 homeowners tapped a combined $54B in equity in Q226, marking the most borrowers to tap equity and the second-largest withdrawal volume in a quarter since 2022, trailing only Q225.
· Second liens continued to drive the majority of equity extraction, with homeowners withdrawing $29.5B through home equity loans and lines of credit in Q226, down a modest 3% from the cyclical peak reached in Q225.
· Cash-out refinance activity showed surprising strength, with nearly 244,000 borrowers extracting a combined $24.3B in equity — the strongest quarter for cash-out withdrawals in nearly four years, despite a recent increase in 30-year mortgage rates.
· Mortgage holders withdrew equity equal to about 0.47% of the $11.4T in tappable equity available at the start of the quarter, the highest extraction rate since 2022, though only modestly above year-ago levels.
· While withdrawal rates have reached their highest levels since 2022, homeowners continue to withdraw equity at a pace well below historical norms.
Non-QM Creeps Up
Refi Retreat: Optimal Blue Market Advantage August 2026
August Market Highlights:
· Refi pullback deepens: Rate-and-term refinance volume declined 13% MoM and 47% YoY. Cash-out refinance volume fell 3% MoM and 5% YoY. Refinance share nevertheless increased 40 bps to more than 19% of total production.
· Purchase demand slows: Purchase lock volume fell 10% MoM but remained 6% higher YoY. Purchase loans accounted for nearly 81% of total lock volume in August.
· Non-QM captured 11.3% of lock volume.
· Rates level off: The OBMMI 30-year conforming fixed rate ended August at 6.72%, unchanged MoM and 23 bps higher YoY.
· Rates forecast to rise, then ease: The OBMMI 30-year conforming fixed rate is forecast at 6.74% over the next month and 6.82% over three months before easing to 6.51% over the next 12 months.
Streak Stalls: 8-Mo Pending Growth Ends - Realtor.com
· Pending sales have been losing steam since May, when the growth rate reached a selling-season peak of 4.8%. That coincided with a steady climb in mortgage rates driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which put upward pressure on oil prices and fueled inflation fears.
· The average rate on 30-year fixed home loans hit its 2026 high of 6.69% on Aug. 6, according to Freddie Mac. Rates hovered in that range for the next three weeks amid bond market volatility, closing out the month at 6.66%—up more than 20 basis points from early July.
· "It looks like August was the month where higher mortgage rates really caught up to housing demand," says Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel, noting that rates crossed above their year-ago levels in early August.
Price cuts, Pending Sales, and Delistings: Realtor.com August Housing Report
Those three were the hallmarks of last year’s “Cruel Summer,” and sellers’ “pricing realism” has helped the market sidestep a repeat of 202, when the market stalled with buyers and sellers too far apart and unwilling or unable to budge.
Price cuts and pending sales are now moving in the wrong direction: The national August price cut rate is now running slightly above last year’s level for the first time in 2026, and pending sales just went negative year over year for the first time in eight months. Both are signs of weakened buyer demand in the face of higher mortgage rates at the wrong time of the year. Fortunately, summer delistings, the ultimate sign of a non-functioning market, are 12.6% below last year’s pace, with no July or August spike this time; the quit rate (delistings as a share of active inventory) has held flat around 5.5% for six weeks.
Foreclosures Up YoY in July: ATTOM Data’s July 2026 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report
Filings, foreclosure starts, and completed foreclosures all posting annual increases. Despite the gains, foreclosure activity remains below historical and pre-pandemic levels.
39,906 properties nationwide had a foreclosure filing in July, up 10% year over year and 1% from the previous month.
Foreclosure starts increased 10% annually to 26,648, with Texas, Florida, and California recording the highest volumes.
Completed foreclosures (REOs) rose 23% from a year ago to 4,764, led by Texas, California, and North Carolina.