It was an uneventful day for mortgage rates with the average lender holding right in line with last Friday’s levels. In this case, that’s a good thing. On the day before and/or after a 3-day weekend, rates tend to be more volatile than normal. That was certainly the case last Friday as the MND rate index dropped at its fastest pace since early January.  By holding steady, rates remain right in line with the lowest levels in more than 3 years.

On Mortgage Law Today at noon PT Brian Levy, Loretta Salzano, and Peter Idziak sit down with Laura LaRia and Sandy Shatz for a deep dive into the legal and regulatory pressures shaping mortgage servicing. The discussion covers litigation trends, servicing agreements, regulatory developments, and how AI is beginning to influence risk and compliance strategy. And on tomorrow’s Mortgage Matters (at 1PM ET) Faith Schwartz, who has an incredible pedigree, draws upon her decades of housing finance and policy experience to discuss crisis leadership lessons, regulatory evolution, and what today’s lenders should be watching as the market recalibrates. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Optimal Blue. The only end-to-end capital markets platform built to power performance, precision, and profitability. Modern. Proven. Optimal Blue. Hear an interview with TRUE’s Steve Butler on why lenders start automation too late by focusing on late-stage checks instead of intake, even though most costs are created early, and how to move certainty upstream.) Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders If your borrowers are equity-rich but cash-constrained or stuck behind a home sale contingency and running into DTI limits, join Flyhomes live webinar on February 25 to see how Flyhomes Buy Before You Sell can help them purchase before selling, with little to no cash out of pocket. By unlocking equity from their current and future home, borrowers can access up to 105 percent LTV of the new purchase price. Save your spot for the webinar now or book a call to review a borrower scenario today. Flyhomes has helped 5,000+ buyers over the past 10 years, and LOs using this program close an average of 1.2 more loans per month.

At the start of the domestic session, bonds had actually managed to build on last week’s impressive gains, even if only by a few bps. That was a bit of a revelation as we didn’t know how much credit to give “defensive positioning ahead of a 3 day weekend” for a portion of those gains. Now that we’re a few hours into the trading day, the early gains have evaporated, but not in an overly-alarming way. Barring unexpected headlines, it looks like bonds will be able to digest the Wednesday’s Fed minutes from well within the confines of a 4.0-4.10% range in 10yr yields.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said in a speech Monday morning that the central bank will introduce two capital proposals that she said are aimed at boosting banks’ role in the mortgage market.

The Public Interest Law Center filed an amicus curiae brief arguing against a joint motion to end a redlining agreement early against Lakeland Bank.

The mortgage broker trade group put out a white paper calling for lowering transaction costs, increasing housing supply and reducing regulatory barriers.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will add loan-level buydown data to MBS this spring, giving investors clearer insight into prepayment risk tied to temporary rate incentives.

Mortgage delinquencies increased across loan types, and while 30-day late payments showed overall improvement, later-stage distress worsened.

The 5-year yield swung sharply after conflicting BLS jobs and CPI data, with softer inflation boosting rate-cut hopes, according to the CEO of IF Securities.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its January Consumer Price Index Friday, showing that inflation rose 0.2%, while the annual rate eased to 2.4% after holding at 2.7% for several months. The data reduces the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the near future.