Preemption would hurt affordability for many, the Conference of State Banking Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators said.

Michael Strauss faces massive Sprout liabilities as his wife and a former associate launch a new mortgage firm, raising questions about ties to the fallen lender.

Fourth quarter pretax income of $900,000 and net income of $656,000 for the segment compared with year ago losses of $625,000 and $197,000 respectively.

The high court, without comment, refused Emigrant Mortgage’s appeal of a verdict holding it liable for no income, no asset verification loans to minorities.

Primelending produced a pretax loss of $5.2 million in the fourth quarter, significantly lower than the loss of $15.9 million in the same period a year earlier.

Mortgage application activity retreated a bit last week following two weeks of unusually strong volume, although holiday timing played a meaningful role in the weekly comparison. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that applications fell 8.5% for the week ending January 23, giving back a portion of the recent surge. The Market Composite Index declined 8.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis and was down 16% on an unadjusted basis, reflecting both the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday adjustment and a market that has shown wide week-to-week swings after extended periods of low activity. Refinance volume saw the largest pullback. The Refinance Index declined 16% from the prior week, though applications remained 156% higher than the same week one year ago. Even with the latest decline, refinance demand continues to run well above last year’s levels following January’s earlier burst of activity. Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist said, “With rates holding in the 6 percent range, the refinance market is likely to remain sensitive to week-to-week rate movements.” Purchase activity was comparatively steady. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index dipped just 0.4% , while unadjusted purchase applications fell 4% on the week but remained 18% higher than the same period last year—continuing to suggest that buyer engagement has been more stable than refinance demand at the start of 2026.

Both the FHFA and the S&P/Cotality Case-Shiller home price indices released November data this week, and the combined message is that home price appreciation continues doing better than it had been in the middle of 2025. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted House Price Index paints clearest picture with seasonally adjusted home prices up 0.6% month-over-month in November and 1.9% year-over-year .  This is the 2nd month in a row with price appreciation at the highest levels in more than a year. Both data sets highlight regional differences. Monthly price changes ranged from flat in the Middle Atlantic to +1.1% in the East South Central division. Over the past year, prices declined 0.4% in the Pacific division but climbed as much as 5.1% in the East North Central region—broadly echoing Case-Shiller’s Midwest-versus-Sun-Belt divide. The Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index posted a 1.4% year-over-year gain in November, unchanged from October. While this is one of the lowest readings of the past several years, it’s also one of the first time the index moved higher from the previous month in more than a year.   On a month-to-month basis, the seasonally adjusted index rose 0.4% . The 20-City Composite posted a 1.4% annual gain , up slightly from 1.3% previously, and increased 0.5% month-over-month after seasonal adjustment.

While there was certainly plenty of volatility elsewhere in the financial market this week, there was almost none to be found in mortgage rates. Wed, Thu, and Fri all recorded the exact same level in MND’s 30yr fixed rate index–something that only happens a few times every year. Rates are based on bonds and bonds are waiting for more serious inspiration after undergoing a bit of elevated volatility at the beginning of last week. The present week has been all about consolidating and settling into a narrower range as we wait for the more important economic data on deck next week.

Volatility Eludes Bonds

Bonds saw some steady selling pressure earlier in the week, but with the total damage amounting to an average of 2bps per day in 10yr yields, it was anything but volatile. The past 2 trading sessions had more noticeable ups and downs, but they played out in an even narrower range. Friday, specifically, was woefully range-bound with 10yr yields essentially in a 2bp range all day. Balmy PPI data and Fed Chair decisions and historic volatility in certain commodities didn’t make any difference. Even the 3pm ET month-end trading barely registered a response despite the typical surge in volume (by far the highest minutes of volume of every month). Next week brings the big ticket econ data and thus a chance for some legit data driven volatility.

Econ Data / Events

Core Producer Prices MM (Dec)

0.7% vs 0.2% f’cast, 0% prev

PPI YoY (Dec)

3.0% vs 2.7% f’cast, 3% prev

Producer Prices (Dec)

0.5% vs 0.2% f’cast, 0.2% prev

Market Movement Recap

08:39 AM MBS down about an eighth and 10yr up 1.6bps at 4.252

12:22 PM MBS down 2 ticks (.06).  10yr up 1.5bps at 4.251

02:34 PM Near strongest levels with MBS down only 1 tick (.03) and 10yr close to unchanged at 4.238

04:19 PM Volatility remains elusive into the close. MBS down 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr up up 0.7bps at 4.243

There’s a lot of sensible thinking going on out there in our biz. Yesterday in the Thought Leadership section, attorney Mitch Kider addressed the “Rule of Law” and what he believes is important to the industry. In a new article featured in Chrisman Commentary’s Thought Leadership, David Spector challenges the rate-centric view of housing affordability, arguing that the real strain comes from a tight housing supply pipeline, local zoning and permitting roadblocks, and tax policies that shape who can afford to own versus invest. He examines how transaction costs, insurance, property taxes, and operational inefficiencies quietly inflate monthly payments, and why lowering mortgage origination friction, modernizing appraisal and title practices, and revisiting pricing policies could meaningfully ease borrower burden without adding risk. Read the full article to unpack where these pressures originate and what coordinated changes could shift the trajectory. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by Truework, the one verification solution to replace in-house waterfalls. Verify any borrower with a VOIE solution that automates the entire process to quickly deliver the most accurate and complete reports with broad GSE coverage. Today’s has an interview with Prudent AI’s Suha Zehl on moving certainty to the front of the lending process to reduce operational friction, eliminate late-stage surprises, and allow lenders to scale volume, protect margins, and serve complex borrowers without adding staff.)