"We continue to view agency MBS as an attractive alternative to tight investment-grade corporate spreads, with the recent buildup in risk premiums making the relative value case for agency MBS even more compelling," analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote.

eXp's new partnership comes after the end of a similar relationship with Kind Lending.

Losses are widely expected for agency MBS investors in the third quarter of 2026. However, the same factors that diminish values of MBS holdings also make new investments in MBS more attractive to investors.

The flow of refis into agency MBS nearly halved during the third quarter. Purchase-mortgage volume was up 12.5% on a sequential basis; but over the first nine months, it was up only 1.3% year over year. (Includes two data tables.)

A fair amount of the shift in share to the retail channel was due to a decline in production at United Wholesale Mortgage.

“The companies most at risk tend to be those with limited scale, very narrow product offerings or really weak capital positions,” Norah Zhang, an assistant vice president in the financial institutions group at Moody’s Ratings, said.

Large lenders are flocking to deploy VantageScore 4.0, but others are being more cautious due to shifting GSE guidelines. There’s also uncertainty for investors in MBS and MSRs.

Demand from MBS investors for non-agency mortgages diminished during the second quarter of 2026 as interest rates increased.

Trade groups said aligning ROV policies across mortgage programs would be preferable.