Market technicals for agency MBS are currently the most favorable they’ve been since the Fed ended quantitative easing in 2022, according to David Finkelstein, CEO and co-CIO at Annaly Capital Management.

A third of its homeseller clients have rates below 5%, Coldwell Banker says.

The value of agency MBS declined sharply following the start of the war with Iran. More recently, volatility has declined, prompting some major agency MBS investors to see continued promise in the assets.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appear to be buying more MBS at times when spreads widen. They’re also hedging the purchases with interest rate swaps, according to industry participants.

The comment period on a concept release from the SEC to revise disclosure requirements on MBS and ABS closed in December. Since then, SEC officials have held a number of meetings with industry groups.

GSE purchase-mortgage volume with private MI held up a little better on a quarterly basis than GSE business without private MI in the first quarter of 2026. (Includes three data tables.)

The main difference in 2026 was that later-stage delinquencies increased.

Now, the economists project that the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will decline to only 6.1% in the fourth quarter.

FHFA Director Bill Pulte dismissed concerns about adverse selection risk tied to the optionality for lenders on FICO scores and VantageScore.

Western Alliance generated a gain-on-sale margin of 37 basis points in the first quarter, up from a 30-bp margin the previous quarter.