Interested parties have until July 5 to give their views regarding the new standard for home equity line of credit electronic closing documents.

A new proposal from the Senate Banking Committee for the massive budget bill to eliminate this source of funding for the Consumer Bureau is dangerous, writes the president of the Center for Responsible Lending

In her first speech since being confirmed as the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision, Michelle Bowman outlined a set of ambitious pursuits that would overhaul bank regulation and examination.

The lender’s former chief of staff alleged the non-QM lender misrepresented loan characteristics to investors and regulators, charges which were never proven.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pinpointed five rules that it wants the White House budget office to review. Details, however, are sparse.

Perfectly Logical Reaction to On-Target Data

It’s not necessarily a fun fact to face, but today’s bond market sell-off was a perfectly logical reaction to the modest beat in NFP. But wait, what about the negative revisions?! Yes, it’s still a logical reaction. Reasons for this are exhaustively discussed in today’s video, but the short version is as follows. Wednesday’s rally was largely about Wednesday’s data carrying anecdotal implications for Friday’s jobs report. When Friday’s jobs report didn’t deliver the goods, the rally was erased. Revisions didn’t matter because last month’s NFP was a big beat in and of itself and only revised to levels that were still higher than today’s headline.  Bottom line: NFP looks sideways at decent levels–not at all worthy of the concern suggested by Wednesday’s reports and other generally weaker data over the past week.

Econ Data / Events

Nonfarm Payrolls

139k vs 130k f’cast, 147k prev

Unemployment Rate

4.2 vs 4.2 f’cast/prev

Market Movement Recap

08:44 AM Weaker after NFP.  MBS down 6 ticks (.19) and 10yr up 5.7bps at 4.453

12:14 PM weakest levels of the day with MBS down a total of 11 ticks (.34) and 10yr yields up 9.1bps at 4.486. 

03:55 PM Slow, steady selling trend continues (maybe leveling off now) with MBS down 13 ticks (.41) and 10yr up 11.1bps at 4.505

Today is the 81st anniversary of D-Day. “My granddad was responsible for 25 downed German planes in WW II. To this day, he is still known as the worst mechanic the Luftwaffe ever had.” On the anniversary of D-Day, let’s hope the entire world is not involved in a war again, although humans have had a recurring theme of conflict. Scaling things down significantly but keeping with the “recurring” theme… Lenders hope that applications and locks are recurring, but it is continuing to be sketchy. According to Curinos’ new proprietary application index, refinances decreased 12% week over week and decreased 28% in May; the purchase index decreased 16% week over week and increased 6% for May as a whole. But in May 2025 funded mortgage volume increased 12% YoY and increased 6% MoM. Curinos sources a statistically significant data set directly from lenders to produce these benchmark figures, and drills into this data further here. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by CreditXpert, the credit optimization platform that helps today’s top mortgage originators and more than 60,000 mortgage professionals qualify more applicants, make more competitive offers, reduce LLPA premiums, and close more loans. Today’s has an interview with Jake Perkins on the new Chrisman Marketplace and how it is adding value to the industry.) Products, Software, and Services for Lenders Following a highly successful launch, Origination Boost, spearheaded by Mandi Feely-Swain, EVP of Premier Mortgage Resources and Idaho’s #1 Loan Originator, is proving to be a game-changer for loan officers. Now in its second year, Origination Boost is not just maintaining momentum; it’s raising the bar and helping loan officers move closer to their goals. The program’s twice-monthly coaching calls continue to offer tactical strategies and high-level mindset coaching, keeping participants laser-focused on results. The exclusive Origination Boost app adds even more value, offering on-the-go accountability tools and tracking systems that drive measurable production increases. Feely-Swain recently announced new incentives for those participating in Origination Boost, including free marketing services when goals are met. Learn more: info@pmrloans.com.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey showed a pullback in mortgage applications, with rates dipping slightly after a three-week climb. The week’s numbers were also affected by the Memorial Day holiday, contributing to larger unadjusted declines. Still, the broader trend remains intact, with purchase demand continuing to outperform last year despite short-term rate volatility. “Most mortgage rates moved lower last week, with the 30-year fixed rate declining to 6.92 percent and staying in the 6.8 to 7 percent range since April,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. He noted that purchase applications remain 18 percent higher than the same week last year, driven in part by a modest rise in FHA activity. Meanwhile, refinance activity fell again, and the average refi loan size dropped to the lowest level since July 2024, suggesting borrowers are still holding out for better rates. Seasonally adjusted refinance applications fell 4 percent from the previous week, while purchase apps also declined 4 percent. On an unadjusted basis, both categories dropped by 15 percent, though the year-over-year numbers remain solid: purchases are up 18 percent and refis are up 42 percent versus this time in 2024. Mortgage Rate Summary:

Mortgage rates have enjoyed a nice run since May 21st, with the MND Index (average top tier 30yr fixed scenarios) falling from a recent peak of 7.08% to this week’s low of 6.87%. As recently as yesterday afternoon, rates were still much closer to those lows at 6.89%.  One day can make a big difference and today turned out to be that day. We knew there was a risk of volatility due to the release of the big jobs report this morning. Unfortunately for rates, the news was less dire than markets were prepared for. Specifically, traders of the bonds that influence interest rates were moving into a defensive position after this week’s previous economic reports foreshadowed some extra weakness in today’s jobs report. In this case, the defensive position would equate to “buying more bonds” which, in turn, pushes rates lower. In other words, they’d taken a lead-off toward lower rates based on the suspicion that the data might come out a bit worse than forecast. As it happened, however, the data was right in line with forecasts.  With that, the proverbial runner was quick to return to base with the rate index heading back up to 6.97%. This is a fairly middle-of-the-road rate over the past month and a half.  The implication is that we’re right back in the same holding pattern observed over the past few weeks as we wait for a more compelling shift in the economic data or other key events.

The bond market was likely taking a bit of a lead-off ahead of today’s jobs report, inspired by a string of weaker economic data over the past week.  Wednesday’s ADP and ISM data had an especially notable impact, prompting us to note the asymmetric risk associated with NFP at the time. In other words, traders were gearing up for a number that was even lower than the 130k consensus.  When the actual number came out at 139k, there was a rush to get back into a more neutral position. While it’s true that last month’s NFP was revised to 147k from 177k, this is not significant evidence of weakness in the bigger picture. 177k was a big beat at the time and 147k is still quite healthy given current immigration dynamics. Top it all off with a relatively steady 4.2% unemployment rate and this report simply wasn’t bad enough to justify the lead-off.