Home affordability declined on a monthly basis across loan types and racial demographics, but improved from a year ago, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The partnership was designed to support the growth of Redwood’s Sequoia platform and give Castlelake purchasing power for fully documented loans.

The latest study from LodeStar found the ratio of average closing cost to home sales price in several states, led by Delaware, well above the national average.

A federal judge harshly criticized the settlement of a civil suit between the Department of Justice and a Texas land developer.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield topped 4.4% on April 29 — its highest level since late March — as investor anxiety mounted.

Bonds Recover With Oil, But Not Completely

Ever since bottoming out together on the morning of April 17th, bond yields and oil prices have been moving higher together.  The early overnight trading hours may have witnessed a bit of a “blow-off top” (fancy words that basically mean markets reversed course simply because they’d gone too high, too fast). In other words, there wasn’t an overt reason for the reversal in the news cycle. That said, there arguably wasn’t sufficient justification for the last leg of the rate/oil spike seen yesterday. Econ data didn’t necessarily drive any of the movement, but with PCE falling right in line with expectations, it didn’t get in the way. Perhaps more impressive is that bonds didn’t see any selling pressure from the lowest jobless claims reading in more than 3 years.

Econ Data / Events

Continued Claims (Apr)/18

1,785K vs 1820K f’cast, 1821K prev

Core PCE (m/m) (Mar)

0.3% vs 0.3% f’cast, 0.4% prev

Core PCE (y/y) (Mar)

3.2% vs 3.2% f’cast, 3% prev

Core PCE Prices QoQQ1

4.3% vs 4.1% f’cast, 2.7% prev

Employment costsQ1

0.9% vs 0.8% f’cast, 0.7% prev

GDPQ1

2.0% vs 2.3% f’cast, 0.5% prev

Jobless Claims (Apr)/25

189K vs 215K f’cast, 214K prev

PCE (y/y) (Mar)

3.5% vs 3.5% f’cast, 2.8% prev

PCE prices (m/m) (Mar)

0.7% vs 0.7% f’cast, 0.4% prev

Market Movement Recap

08:31 AM slightly stronger overnight and no immediate reaction to boatload of econ data. MBS up 7 ticks and 10yr down 2.8bps at 4.402

12:05 PM Fairly flat since the open. MBS up a quarter point and 10yr down 4bps at 4.39

03:21 PM Near best levels. MBS up 10 ticks (.31) and 10yr down 4.8bps at 4.383

Mortgage rates spiked on Wednesday (yesterday) after reports suggested a prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. As has been the case for most of the past 2 months, interest rate movement was clearly correlated with oil prices. Now today, both are moving back in the other direction though not for reasons that are as obvious as yesterday’s. The rally began just after 2am ET with both oil prices and bond yields dropping in concert. Lower bond yields mean lower rates, all else equal. After hitting 6.50% for top-tier 30yr fixed rates, the average lender is back down to 6.45–roughly where they were yesterday morning before a round of mid-day increases in the afternoon. [thirtyyearmortgagerates]

Mortgage applications eased modestly last week, giving back a small portion of the prior week’s sharp gains as rates moved slightly higher. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 1.6% decrease on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending April 24. The pullback was driven by softer refinance demand, while purchase activity continued to improve. The Refinance Index fell 4% from the previous week but remained 51% higher than the same week one year ago. Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1% week over week and stood 21% above last year’s level. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased slightly to 6.37% from 6.35%, contributing to the decline in refinance activity. Even so, steady inventory gains and resilient demand appear to be supporting buyers during the spring market. MBA’s Mike Fratantoni said, ” Mortgage rates increased slightly last week, with the 30-year fixed rate rising to 6.37 percent… More notably, purchase application activity was more than 20 percent above last year’s pace… potential homebuyers certainly appear to be moving forward this spring and taking advantage of the more favorable inventory conditions in most parts of the country. ” Application composition shifted further away from refinancing, with refinance share declining to 42.5% from 44.2% the prior week. ARM share increased to 8.3% . FHA share fell to 17.2% , while VA share held steady at 15.0% and USDA share remained unchanged at 0.5% .

Residential construction activity moved in opposite directions in March, as housing starts posted a strong rebound while building permits fell sharply from the previous month’s elevated pace. The latest Census Bureau report suggests builders accelerated new projects even as future pipeline activity softened. Privately owned housing starts rose 10.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.502 million , up from February’s revised 1.356 million pace. Starts were also 10.8% higher than March 2025 levels. Single-family starts increased 9.7% to 1.032 million, while multifamily starts (buildings with five units or more) came in at 446k. On the permitting side, activity pulled back notably. Total building permits fell 10.8% to an annual rate of 1.372 million , down from February’s revised 1.538 million pace and 7.4% below year-ago levels. Single-family permits declined 3.8% to 895k, while multifamily authorizations dropped to 427k. In general, there’s no point in reading too much into month-to-month volatility in this data series. What’s important is that there’s been a decent, supportive floor of construction activity seen in 2024-2025 and a general upward trend since October, 2025. Housing completions were essentially flat for the month, edging up 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.366 million . Despite the monthly stability, completions were 12.8% lower than the same time last year. Single-family completions fell 4.8% to 896k, while multifamily completions reached 452k.

Home price appreciation remained subdued in early 2026, according to the latest data from both FHFA and S&P Cotality Case-Shiller. The two reports show prices still edging higher nationally, but with momentum slowing further as affordability constraints and elevated mortgage rates continue to weigh on the market. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted House Price Index was unchanged in February from the prior month, following an upwardly revised 0.2% gain in January . On an annual basis, prices were up 1.7% versus February 2025, slightly below the pace seen in prior months and consistent with a cooling appreciation trend. Regional FHFA data showed continued divergence across the country. Monthly price changes ranged from -1.1% in the Mountain division to +0.6% in the South Atlantic division. Over the past year, appreciation ranged from -0.7% in the Mountain region to +4.2% in the Middle Atlantic, highlighting a growing split between softer Western markets and firmer Northeastern areas. The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index posted a 0.7% year-over-year gain in February, down from 0.8% previously and marking another step lower in annual appreciation. The 10-City Composite rose 1.5% , while the 20-City Composite increased 0.9% , both slowing from January readings.