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Mortgage Rates Edge Higher But Remain in November Range

Mortgage rates went into the weekend with a small cushion thanks to movement in the bond market on Friday. Specifically, bonds improved after mortgage rates came out for the day. If the improvement had been sharper, mortgage lenders likely would have made a mid-day adjustment to slightly lower levels. The implication was that rates would have been slightly lower this morning if bonds managed to hold the same levels over the weekend. Unfortunately, bonds lost enough ground to overshadow Friday's cushion, just slightly. The net effect is an average top-tier 30yr fixed rate that is 0.02% higher versus Friday morning--a minimal change considering the day-over-day losses in the bond market. With that, the average lender remains well inside the the 0.10 range that's been in place since October 29th.  Bond markets are closed tomorrow for Veterans Day. When markets reopen on Wednesday, the prospects for ending the government shutdown may be coming into clearer view and that could cause enough market volatility to spill over into rates. If today's trading was any clue, a "reopening" event is more likely to put upward pressure on rates, but today's rate increase could already be reflecting those expectations. 

Source: Mortgage News Daily | 10 Nov 2025 | 8:39 pm

Tax Service, Realtor Marketing, Debt Payment Tools; Curinos on Apps; Events and Training

“6-7!” has swept the nation for youngsters of indeterminant age, and for no real reason. Other numbers have meaning, as do dates. For example, today is November 10th and on this day in 1975, the freighter S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior during a massive storm, killing all 29 of the crew. (Gordon Lightfoot memorialized the tragedy in a hit song the following year.) What’s in a number? Today, let’s look at “50” or “100.” Through some social media software, the president has brought up the 50- or 100-year mortgage as a way of improving affordability. Most people in this country would prefer to pay off their mortgage sooner than later. Does anyone admire the Japanese economy, or grandkids paying off their grandparent’s mortgage? “Through the use of simulation, the conclusion is reached that the 100-year mortgage has failed to increase the affordability of homes. Instead, affluent homeowners are more likely to employ long-term mortgages as an estate-planning tool to reduce inheritance taxes.” (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by TransUnion. Mortgage lenders choose TransUnion for their identity-focused, data-driven mortgage insights and solutions, enabling them to achieve more desirable lending outcomes in a volatile housing market. Hear an interview with TRUE’s Steve Butler on the challenges of income analysis in lending, particularly the delays caused by manual data entry and underwriting processes, and how technological advancements are solving this.)

Source: Mortgage News Daily | 10 Nov 2025 | 4:46 pm

Shutdown Resolution in Sight. What Next?

If members of the House can make it back to D.C. in sufficient numbers, there's a real possibility that the shutdown will end this week. Some marketplace chatter is attempting to connect overnight bond market weakness to those prospects, but an early recovery suggests some skepticism (because the recovery didn't coincide with any new news on the shutdown). Still, a logical case could be made for bond weakness when the shutdown ends, assuming a prolonged shutdown increasingly harms the economy. Either way, the real reaction will be reserved for real confirmation. Despite assumptive headlines, this would likely take several days at best.  From there, it's not as if econ data is ready to release (other than the September jobs report).

Source: Mortgage News Daily | 10 Nov 2025 | 4:18 pm

Mortgage Rates Rise Gently, But Still Well Below This Week's Highs

Wednesday's mortgage rates were the highest in roughly a month and very close to the highest levels in 2 months.  This followed stronger economic data on that same morning. Rates moved back down yesterday after separate econ data told a different story. Now on Friday, it's a mixed bag. The underlying bond market was slightly weaker to start the day, and that meant rates started out modestly higher. But the last economic data of the week showed lower-than-expected consumer sentiment. Bonds improved as a result, but not enough for the average lender to go to the trouble of adjusting their mortgage rate offerings. The implication is that Monday's rates would be back in line with yesterday's if the bond market were to hold steady over the weekend. Keep in mind, that's never a guarantee. The point of sharing the info is simply to relay the fact that rates could endure a bit of bond market weakness over the weekend without being any higher than they are today. 

Source: Mortgage News Daily | 7 Nov 2025 | 7:24 pm

Non-QM, Lock Service, Valuation M&A, Borrower Satisfaction, ARM Hedging Tools; Robinhood Enters Mortgage

How was the Louve in Paris robbed? The password for the cameras was… ready? Louve. (I’m sure that the Smithsonian, MOMA, and Vatican IT staffs are busy changing theirs. (I have my passwords in a notebook… no one can read my scrawl.) Let’s hope that the Federal Aviation Administration has better security, and its website says, “The FAA manages the world’s safest and most complex aviation system. On an average day, we serve more than 45,000 flights and 2.9 million airline passengers across more than 29 million square miles of airspace.” Even with the Trump Administration lopping 10 percent of that off, it’s still a lot of flights… and many haven’t been paid in five weeks? Speaking of travel, the next time you’re waiting to board, watch out for gate lice. Huh? People who crowd around the gate at an airport, sometimes in an attempt to board before their allotted time, are known as “gate lice” by the airlines. (Today’s podcast can be found here and Sponsored by ICE. As the standard for innovation, artificial intelligence, efficiency and scalability, ICE is the technology of choice for the majority of industry participants, defining the future of homeownership. Today’s features an interview with Arc Home's Lee Malone on the HELOC market: the need for it, the various products out there, and how it’s being utilized across origination channels.) Services, Products, Software, and Tools for Lenders and Brokers Eris SOFR Swap futures are an ideal solution for hedging the growing market for Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM) loans. As the interest rate curve steepens, lenders and homebuilders are successfully using ARMs to generate originations and homesales by offering borrowers lower near-term payment amounts. Since the initial period of an ARM behaves like a fixed-rate loan, originators can hedge away the interest rate risk using a SOFR swap with the same tenor as the fixed-rate period (e.g., use a 3-year swap to hedge a 3/1 ARM). Eris SOFR Swap futures provide an easily-accessible and cost-efficient hedging tool, even for smaller originators. Hedging with Eris SOFR allows you to grow your volume by pricing more competitively and improving your execution, without fearing interest rate risk. To explore how Eris SOFR Swap futures can optimize your ARM hedging strategy, reach out to John Douglas.

Source: Mortgage News Daily | 7 Nov 2025 | 4:50 pm

Econ Data Keeping Bonds Flat

Although bonds began the day in roughly unchanged territory, they began losing ground shortly thereafter. Things changed at the 9:30am NYSE open as stock losses helped arrest the selling pressure. Then at 10am ET, weaker Consumer Sentiment data (with a record low in current conditions) helped completely erase the selling.

Source: Mortgage News Daily | 7 Nov 2025 | 3:51 pm

Have Bonds Found Their Post-Fed Footing?

Have Bonds Found Their Post-Fed Footing? Looked at one way, bonds have been in a moderate selling trend since Fed day. Viewed through another lens, Fed day caused an isolated lurch toward higher yields and then we were generally sideways until yesterday's econ data caused another lurch higher.  The common thread in each scenario is that bonds had been unable to find a reason to rally in any meaningful way. Amid such scenarios, we wait for such rallies to restore balance to the near-term outlook. Via weak results in private label econ data, a sharp morning selling spree in stocks (and perhaps some technical support seen as early as yesterday when 10yr yields topped out at 4.16), today provided that rally.   Econ Data / Events ADP Employment 42k vs 25k f'cast, -32k prev ISM Biz Activity (Oct) 54.3 vs -- f'cast, 49.9 prev ISM N-Mfg PMI (Oct) 52.4 vs 50.8 f'cast, 50.0 prev ISM Services Employment (Oct) 48.2 vs 47.6 f'cast, 47.2 prev ISM Services New Orders (Oct) 56.2 vs 51.0 f'cast, 50.4 prev ISM Services Prices (Oct) 70.0 vs 68.0 f'cast, 69.4 prev Market Movement Recap 09:53 AM Fairly sharp rally at 8:20am CME open with more buying as stocks sell off.  MBS up 9 ticks (.28) and 10yr down 6.3bps at 4.097 01:56 PM very flat near strongest levels.  MBS still up 9 ticks (.28) and 10yr down 7.6bps at 4.084 04:18 PM Still flat into the after hours session. MBS up 9 ticks (.28) and 10yr down 7.3bps at 4.088

Source: Mortgage News Daily | 6 Nov 2025 | 10:14 pm

Nice Little Recovery For Mortgage Rates

As of yesterday afternoon, mortgage rates were right in line with the highest levels in more than a month. The upward momentum was largely a product of 2 specific days: the October 29th Fed announcement and yesterday's duo of economic reports that suggested less cause for concern over the labor market and strength of the services sector. Now today, we have different economic data telling a different story.  Were it not for the government shutdown, the market may have never placed nearly as much emphasis on today's data. In fact, today is the first time that many market participants have even heard of one of the reports (a synthetic jobs report by Revelio). Revelio's data suggested a decline in payrolls in October.  Combined with separate data that showed a surge in job cuts, there was a clearly negative message for the labor market. Bad economic news helps bonds which, in turn, is good for rates. All told, today's move completely erased yesterday's damage. The average mortgage lender made it almost all the way back down to last Friday's levels. [thirtyyearmortgagerates]

Source: Mortgage News Daily | 6 Nov 2025 | 9:29 pm

AI Processing, Borrower Experience and Targeting Tools; Labor Market is Being Pummeled

Frequent conference goers or traveling salespeople are obviously concerned about the Trump Administration cutting 10 percent of flights for a variety of reasons. 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents are working without pay. For anyone looking for a job through the Job Board, here’s a pro tip for a question in your next interview: “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Answer: “Celebrating the 5th anniversary in your lunchroom of you asking me that question.” Job news, good and bad, is in the forefront of economic and residential news. The Trump Administration has apparently fired a mortgage regulator watchdog and Fannie Mae’s ethics staff. Is AI leading to layoffs or does the U.S. economy just stink? (Today’s podcast can be found here and Sponsored by ICE. As the standard for innovation, artificial intelligence, efficiency and scalability, ICE is the technology of choice for the majority of industry participants, defining the future of homeownership. Today’s features an interview with Servbank’s Sharmyn Calhoun on the importance of technology in modern compliance management.) Services, Products, Software, and Tools for Lenders and Brokers Some things don’t just stand the test of time; they keep getting better with it. FirstClose, celebrating its 25th anniversary this month, has spent a quarter century proving that innovation and endurance can go hand in hand. What started as a single-source provider of property data has evolved into a comprehensive end-to-end platform, supporting over 225 lenders and $129 billion in funded loans since 2015. In an industry where technology changes faster than rates, few companies can claim that kind of consistency or impact. As FirstClose marks 25 years, its mission remains as relevant as ever: helping lenders simplify processes, strengthen borrower experience, and turn opportunity into growth. Connect with the FirstClose team to see how 25 years of innovation can help your lending operation thrive today…and for the next 25.

Source: Mortgage News Daily | 6 Nov 2025 | 4:51 pm