http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/ Mortgage News Daily https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-04292026 Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:17:06 GMT 69f205a2e20118b1ed8fd560 Rob Chrisman Broker and Correspondent Products NFTYDoor, an end-to-end digital HELOC platform, announced last week it is now operating as a fully independent company, enabling direct partnerships with wholesale brokers and private label correspondents. Brokers are already active on the new structure - submitting applications and closing loans today with no waiting period, supported by NFTYDoor's combination of AI-powered origination and real people on every loan. Key enhancements include minimum FICO reduced from 640 to 600, maximum CLTV increased from 80 to 90 percent, maximum loan amount increased from $500,000 to $750,000, borrower rates reduced by 100+ bps, increased compensation for partners, and a fully embedded no-cost warehouse line for private label partners. Available exclusively to partners contracting directly with NFTYDoor. More at nftydoor.com/home. “Our mascot is a pig, and there’s a reason: We love a Piggyback! Our Piggyback HELOC 2 nd can close simultaneously with a 1 st mortgage purchase or refinance. Our Post Close Piggyback HELOC can be submitted to Symmetry within 120 days after the 1 st mortgage closes. Why should you use the Symmetry Piggyback? You can break up a Jumbo loan into two loans and have the 1 st mortgage follow conventional guidelines. Our HELOC can go up to 89.99 percent CLTV on a 2nd lien primary residence up to $500k line amount. We have interest-only minimum payments during the draw period (plus annual fee) with no prepayment penalty or EPO. Lastly, our Piggybacks can utilize most of the same documentation as the 1 st mortgage, including an appraisal. Call your Symmetry Area Manager today to run through scenarios!” Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-morning-04292026 Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:31:40 GMT 69f21750a6791958c5a5c3bd Matthew Graham Last night's key news on the war involved reports of Trump telling aides to prepare for a prolonged blockade of Iran. The free flow of oil through Hormuz is the key market mover in this war, so it's no surprise to see oil prices lurch higher in response. Bond yields followed but have managed to hold under yesterday morning's highs so far. This morning's econ data definitely isn't rushing to help with Durable goods coming in much higher than expected. In other news, there is a Fed announcement today, but no chance of a cut or hike, and no dot plot. It's hard to imagine what could be said that the market doesn't already know (or fear, i.e. inflation expectations). Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-recap-04282026 Tue, 28 Apr 2026 20:15:40 GMT 69f12390a6791958c5a432a9 Matthew Graham Modest Gains After Opening Weaker Tuesday ended up being a uneventful trading session despite 10yr yields hitting 3-week highs. Those highs were in place right at the open and things gradually improved from there. Markets are expressing a token amount of concern over the lack of progress on US/Iran peace, which  continues to be the biggest potential market mover. Notably, there was also an obvious reaction to Consumer Confidence data today (even though it was very small). This lets us know we can't tune out other econ data just because the broader momentum is more likely tied to geopolitical developments.  Econ Data / Events ADP Employment Change Weekly 39.25K vs -- f'cast, 54.75K prev Case Shiller Home Prices-20 y/y (Feb) 0.9% vs 1.1% f'cast, 1.2% prev CaseShiller 20 mm nsa (Feb) 0.4% vs -- f'cast, -0.1% prev FHFA Home Price Index m/m (Feb) 0.0% vs 0.2% f'cast, 0.1% prev FHFA Home Prices y/y (Feb) 1.7% vs -- f'cast, 1.6% prev Consumer Confidence 92.8 vs 89.0 f'cast, 92.2 prev Market Movement Recap 09:14 AM Modestly weaker overnight. 10yr up 2bps at 4.362 and MBS down 3 ticks (.09). 11:07 AM MBS down an eighth and 10yr up 1.8bps at 4.359 02:29 PM MBS down an eighth and 10yr up 1.5bps at 4.357. No reaction to 7 year auction Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mortgage-rates-04282026 Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:32:00 GMT 69f10e1a80727c719af87362 Matthew Graham Mortgage rates moved moderately higher today for the average lender, but not for any exciting reasons. Rather, the change has more to do with timing of the underlying market movement. While it's true that mortgage rates are directly influenced by the bond market, mortgage lenders prefer to set rates once per day. From there, they will occasionally make adjustments if the bond market experiences enough volatility. The catch is that lenders are less likely to adjust rates the later it is in the afternoon and if the bond market has been changing steadily/gradually. With all that in mind, yesterday saw a steady, gradual decline in the bond market that persisted into the late afternoon. As such, most lenders didn't go to the trouble of adjusting rates yesterday. In other words, the average lender was already planning on raising rates a bit this morning even if the bond market started the day flat. But bonds lost even more ground this morning (before lenders decided on rates for the day). Bottom line, lenders were tasked with adjusting for 2 days of modest weakness all at once. The result is a move that is bigger than the average recent day, but not because the underlying market movement was bigger or more volatile than average. [thirtyyearmortgagerates] Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-04282026 Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:29:31 GMT 69f0a77eee0de4ac32ffcac0 Rob Chrisman The big keep getting bigger: Real Brokerage announced that it is purchasing RE/MAX for $550 million, revealing that, including debt, the deal is worth an estimated $880 million. The name will be the Real REMAX Group (“a transformative opportunity to fuse REMAX’s strong brand equity with leading AI technology”) and it’s been reported that Motto Mortgage, owned by RE/MAX, will retain its current business model of a mortgage brokerage franchisor following the completion of this deal. REMAX doesn’t belong to the National Association of Realtors, although “they” say that 87 percent of real estate agents are NAR members. NAR tells us that 63 percent of its members are female. There are agents who are part-time license holders, people who got licensed but never entered the business, and even agents on a team where all deals are closed under the team leader. The 2025 NAR Member Profile paints a different picture. Among REALTORS® specializing in residential sales, only 5 percent reported zero transaction sides in 2024, the typical Realtor completed 10 transaction sides, and Realtors with two years or less experience reported a median of 3 transactions. LOs should be careful who they call on! (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Figure, which is shaking up the lending world with their five-day HELOC, offering borrower approvals in as little as five minutes and funding in five days. Figure has hundreds of partners in the Banking, Credit Union, Home Improvement, and of course, IMB space embedding their technology. Today’s has an interview with Seroka’s John Seroka on how brands are discovered by prioritizing credible, structured, and widely validated information over traditional SEO, making it critical for companies to build consistent digital authority and trust signals.) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-morning-04282026 Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:27:05 GMT 69f0d2b4a6791958c5a38c10 Matthew Graham Bonds sold off slowly and steadily overnight, largely tracing a similarly steady rise in oil prices. The latter is most easily attributed to reports that Trump is not happy with the latest Iran peace proposal although those reports stopped short of saying the proposal was flat-out rejected. There was additional volatility in oil prices surrounding news that the UAE is pulling out of OPEC, but that mostly resolved with oil moving off the highs (more competition, less supply throttling expected). Most recently a decent showing in Consumer Confidence is keeping bonds in a defensive stance. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-recap-04272026 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 19:51:47 GMT 69efcd60a6791958c5a1a537 Matthew Graham Modest Weakness, But Range Persists Bonds lost ground today, but not for any particular reason. Most importantly, there was no major reaction to the lack of progress in peace talks over the weekend (which would have been hard considering the talks didn't happen). Earlier in the war, this sort of development would have had a more noticeable impact. At this point, markets are waiting on the biggest news. Until that news breaks, bonds are content to wander aimlessly in the same sideways range that's been intact for the entire month. For those who insist on assigning blame for today's modestly higher yields, the absence of peace talks was worth maybe a third of it. Beyond that, we'd consider things like the Treasury auction cycle and asset allocation among investors chasing all-time highs in stocks.  Market Movement Recap 09:13 AM Bonds modestly weaker on stalled peace talks. 10yr up 1.4bps at 4.317 and MBS down 3 ticks (.09). 11:48 AM MBS down 5 ticks (.16) on the day and an eight from the highs. 10yr up 2.6bps at 4.329 02:22 PM 10yr up 3.3bps at 4.335 and MBS still down 5 ticks (.16) Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mortgage-rates-04272026 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 19:21:00 GMT 69efb8d43b258adc6dac24d3 Matthew Graham Despite the elevated volatility risk heading into the weekend, mortgage rates are starting the week in exactly the same territory compared to Friday afternoon. As always, our rate tracking refers to top-tier 30-year fixed rates for the average lender. The absence of meaningful movement in the underlying bond market is a testament to an increasingly high bar of relevance for war-related news. Specifically, the Iran war is the main source of inspiration not only for oil prices, but also for the bonds that dictate interest rates.  Earlier in the war, almost any headline had a visible impact on bonds. But now it's only the most significant developments. Those are harder to come by in late April as investors are basically waiting for either an official and permanent ceasefire, or a catastrophic re-escalation. Anything in between has proven to be fairly uninteresting when it comes to bond market influence. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/opinion/pipelinepress-04272026 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:47:15 GMT 69ef5a07cb5dcfb5bb666fe4 Rob Chrisman What happens if labor or materials become too expensive here in the United States? Despite the move toward rejuvenating the manufacturing-based economy in the United States by the current Administration, people will follow the money and go elsewhere, whether it be dental work, hair transplants, or… manufactured housing. With the high cost of home construction, more Americans are becoming curious about working with Chinese suppliers on their renovations. The price of home construction materials in the United States increased by 3 percent from last year, according to the National Association of Home Builders. And since 27 percent of those materials came from China (in 2023), some US homebuilders are thinking of skipping the middleman like Home Depot and local contractors. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Figure, which is shaking up the lending world with their five-day HELOC, offering borrower approvals in as little as five minutes and funding in five days. Figure has hundreds of partners in the Banking, Credit Union, Home Improvement, and of course, IMB space embedding their technology. Today’s has an interview with WSFS Bank’s Jeffrey Ruben on how homeowners can strategically tap their equity while navigating today’s rate environment, avoiding common renovation financing pitfalls, and understanding why many are calling this the “golden age” of HELOCs.) Lender and Broker Products and Services Your workflow is already built. Your systems are already in place. Your credit reporting partner should support that. Advantage Partners Solutions gives you access to two platforms: Credit Interlink and MeridianLink Mortgage Credit Link. Both are fully supported by the same team. You choose the platform that fits your loan origination system. Your process stays intact. Your team keeps moving. No disruption. No retraining cycles. No forced transitions. This is an industry-first kind of structure that aligns to your operation and scales with your production volume. It allows your team to maintain momentum while gaining the support of a partner who understands your environment. See how this fits inside your operation and how both platforms support your workflow without interruption. Review your setup and compare it to a model designed to adapt to you and move forward with clarity: Schedule an intro today. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-morning-04272026 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 13:44:14 GMT 69ef76a8a6791958c5a0f5aa Matthew Graham The word of the day is "stalled." You can't get far reading top news stories over the weekend without seeing it in reference to the negotiations that looked at least somewhat possible on Friday afternoon. At that time, official word was that Witkoff/Kushner were heading to Pakistan on Saturday morning to meet with Iran's FM Araghchi, but the US contingent never made the trek. Now this morning there are additional reports that a resumption of military operations is being considered. One would think this would make for a big hit to financial markets, but oil prices and bond yields are only modestly higher. And stocks are actually in slightly stronger territory, once again pushing new all-time highs. Mortgage News Daily 0 http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/rss/full