Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have begun placing sizable orders to purchase mortgage-backed securities, stepping into a market roiled by widening bond spreads and a surge in volatility, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

As rising energy prices and growing inflation fears make corporate bonds look increasingly risky, big money managers including State Street and Voya Investment Management have been looking at buying mortgage bonds and other securitized debt instead.

In early deployments with Freedom Mortgage, the platform from Palantir Technologies and Moder is live with multiple key processes.

The average homebuyer would save $150 per month by using an adjustable-rate mortgage instead of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Redfin.

Rising insurance premiums and total ownership costs are driving borrower hesitation in high-cost regions. See how lenders can adapt strategically.

Overlooked controls and fragmented oversight leave mortgage lenders exposed to enforcement, litigation, and reputational damage. Learn how to close the gaps.

Guaranteed Rate Affinity, joint venture between Guaranteed Rate and Anywhere Integrated Services, announced its national builder divisional manager.

Global Bond Market in Reprice Mode

Around here, “reprice” typically refers to mid-day rate changes from mortgage lenders, but infrequently, a big picture repricing occurs in the bond market. That’s what’s going on in March and especially over the last 2.5 days. Wednesday’s Fed comments and Thursday’s ECB/BOE comments confirmed that there’s a floor under short term rates for a vast majority of the planet’s reserve currency holdings, AND that hikes are quickly replacing cuts as the next likely move (September Fed meeting went from 0% hike chance to more than 25% in less than 2 days). Trading and investment strategies of a majority of the world’s investible capital was positioned for an entirely different reality before the Iran war. Now it is repositioning… repricing for new realities. 

Market Movement Recap

09:46 AM Sharply weaker overnight with additional selling all morning. MBS down over half a point and 10yr up 7.8bps at 4.327.

01:37 PM MBS down half a point and 10yr up 11.4bps at 4.364

After hitting 5.99% as recently as February 27th, top tier 30yr fixed mortgage rates are back over 6.5% for the average lender today–the highest they’ve been since September 3rd, 2025.  The entire month of March has been painful for many corners of the financial market and mortgage rates are not immune. The Iran war is the underlying catalyst as surging fuel costs force global central banks to rapidly reassess inflation expectations and the policy rate outlook. As we’re fond of repeating, an actual hike/cut of the Fed Funds Rate is of no concern to mortgage rates by the time it actually happens. But if Fed hike/cut  expectations are changing rapidly, mortgage rates will almost always be changing rapidly in the same direction.  That’s what’s happening this week–not just for the Fed, but also for the European Central Bank and others. The globally-coordinated hawkishness on the rate outlook causes additional volatility in the rate market for a variety of reasons. Investors increasingly believe that there is additional pain that needs to play out even if the war were to end today. That doesn’t mean rates can’t bounce for a day or two, but it does mean sustained improvement back to February’s levels is highly unlikely in the near term.

New home sales took a notable step back in January, reversing much of the prior month’s strength and highlighting the volatility that often defines this data series. The Census Bureau reported a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 587,000 , down sharply from December’s 712,000 and 11.3% lower than January 2025. For-sale inventory moved slightly higher to 476,000 , up 0.4% from December but still 4.0% below year-ago levels. At the current sales pace, months’ supply jumped to 9.7 months , up from 8.0 months in December and 9.0 months one year ago. The increase reflects the combination of softer demand and relatively steady inventory levels. Prices declined on both a monthly and annual basis. The median sales price fell to $400,500 (-4.5% MoM; -6.8% YoY), while the average price dropped to $499,500 (-5.9% MoM; -3.6% YoY). The pullback suggests a shift in the mix of homes sold, with less upward pressure from higher-priced transactions.
Sales (MoM): -17.6%
Sales (YoY): -11.3%
Inventory (YoY): -4.0%
Months’ Supply: 9.7 (up from 8.0 prior month; 9.0 YoY)