After three consecutive weeks of increases, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped 0.3 basis points to 6.23% this week, according to Freddie Mac.

Recent high-profile ethics violations by senior Federal Reserve officials, including new revelations concerning stock trades by former Fed Gov. Adriana Kugler, have sparked debate over the effectiveness of the central bank’s oversight, even as some observers stress such cases remain rare.

Non-banks tracked by Morningstar DBRS reported combined net income of $367 million for the third quarter, down from $807 million three months prior.

Holiday Week Volatility With Zero Consequence

Although there was a brief negative reaction to this morning’s economic data, the impact was minimal. Random holiday-week volatility accounted for bigger swings, but those swings ultimately canceled each other out. By the 3pm close, bonds were close enough to unchanged levels. That makes today truly forgettable in the bigger picture. Trading doesn’t get real/serious again until December.  NOTE: Friday is technically open until 2pm ET, but as is our custom, we will only publish commentary on an “as-needed” basis (i.e. if the movement is minimal, you won’t hear from us until Monday).

Econ Data / Events

Durable goods (Sep)

0.5% vs 0.3% f’cast, 2.9% prev

Jobless Claims (Nov)/22

216K vs 225K f’cast, 220K prev

Continued Claims (Nov)/15

1,960K vs — f’cast, 1974K prev

Market Movement Recap

09:05 AM modestly weaker after data. MBS down 3 ticks (.09) and 10yr up 2.2bps at 4.018

12:23 PM Volatility centered on 10am ET, but now back near best levels.  MBS unchanged and 10yr up only 0.6bps at 4.002

02:44 PM Approaching 3pm CME close with 10yr yields nearly unchanged at 3.999 and MBS down 1 tick (.03). 

House Democrats argue that HUD’s cut to the Continuum of Care Program could push 170,000 people to homelessness.

Years ago, the Federal Housing Administration helped finance thousands of loans for manufactured housing. An effort to restart that program would help millions of Americans afford their own homes.

The new phone books are here, the new phone books are here! Oh, wait a minute. The new conventional conforming loan limits are here! The new conventional conforming loan limits are here! True, lenders that are entirely focused on non-Agency products like non-QM (without many of the loan level price adjustments or gfees) may not care too much, but for most, Freddie Mac’s and Fannie Mae’s changes are followed closely. For 2026 we’re up from 2025’s $806,500 to $832,750. This beats the $819,000 by about $13k that many lenders and investors moved to in late September/early October. They can all rejigger their systems. (More conforming news below.) All this focus on conventional conforming programs reminds me that LO comp is still a huge issue, and the source of litigation; it shouldn’t be put on the backburner. I continue to hear promises that made to potential recruits that are in violation of LO comp rules. Who is going to research and penalize infractions? The CFPB? Lenders shouldn’t have to pay the same for a conventional conforming loan as a bond program, and most agree that change is needed: LO comp rules being ignored can hurt companies. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by The Big Point of Sale, which delivers a fast, flexible, and low-cost mortgage POS that gets lenders up and running in hours (not months) while empowering loan officers and consumers to collaborate seamlessly from any device. Hear an interview with Panorama’s Hector Amendola on home sales trends, borrower sentiment, rate psychology, and how originators are winning business in the current environment.)

Wednesday was far less eventful than the first two days of the week as far as mortgage rates were concerned. The average lender raised rates just a hair, but apart from yesterday, these are the lowest levels in a month and very close to the lowest levels in more than 3 years. Bond markets and mortgage lenders will be closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving. While Friday is technically open, 9 times out of 10, it may as well not be. In other words, the Friday after Thanksgiving rarely sees any meaningful movement in mortgage rates or the underlying bond market.  

Bonds were just slightly weaker overnight but are losing more ground in early trading.  The culprit: both of this morning’s 8:30am ET economic releases.  Jobless Claims data is probably the bigger deal as it continues to show no signs of labor market distress (216k vs 225k f’cast). The other report, Durable Goods, is more stale (pre-shutdown), but was also clearly upbeat with the core cap-ex figure coming in at a robust 0.9% vs 0.2% f’cast. The resulting sell-off in bonds is minimal but not massive. 10yr yields are up only 2.5bps at 4.021 and MBS are down less than an eighth. 

Swalwell alleges Pulte obtained and used the lawmaker’s personal mortgage records in violation of US privacy laws and constitutional protections for political expression.