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- 30-year FRM tops 7% for the first time in over a year
30-year FRM tops 7% for the first time in over a year
Plus: Rocket and CrossCountry raise conforming limit to $845,000 ahead of FHFA
Friday, we made it. Today we're remembering Sept. 11, 2001. Today’s newsletter is 650 words, a 2.5-minute read. Let’s dive in…
Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of September 10, 2026. © MND Daily Rate Index.
1. Rocket and CrossCountry raise conforming limit to $845,000 ahead of FHFA
Rocket Mortgage and CrossCountry Mortgage both moved their internal conforming loan limit to $845,000 Thursday, getting ahead of FHFA's official 2027 announcement expected in late November.
The move raises the ceiling $12,250 above the current 2026 limit of $832,750 and keeps more high-balance borrowers in conventional rather than jumbo channels.
Other lenders are expected to follow. The risk: FHFA's official number could come in differently, leaving lenders holding loans they originated above the eventual limit. Both companies appear comfortable with that exposure given their balance sheet capacity.
The $845,000 figure implies a roughly 1.47% increase for 2027 — a smaller jump than 2026's 3.25% rise, consistent with a softer home price environment this year.
2. Mortgage credit tightened in August as jumbo offerings pulled back
MBA's Mortgage Credit Availability Index fell 1% in August to 107.3, with jumbo credit leading the decline at 2.5%. Lenders pulled back on programs requiring flexible documentation and cash-out refinance loans — many of which had jumbo features. Conforming credit was unchanged and government loan availability held steady.
The tightening comes as rates hit their highest level in more than a year in August. With elevated rates compressing demand and margins, lenders are trimming the riskier edges of their product menus.
“Credit availability decreased in August, as lenders reduced their offerings of loan programs that require flexible documentation, along with cash-out refinance loans,” Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, said in a statement. “Many of these loan programs had jumbo features, which contributed to the decline in jumbo credit availability.”
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3. More Nuggets
📝 Lessons from 9/11: How one NYC community bank rebounded. (NMN)
🏘️ Demand for riskier mortgages rises again, along with interest rates. (CNBC)
🤖 Crypto-backed home financing comes with new trade-offs. (NMP)
🏡 Existing home sales slide to weakest in more than a year. (Yahoo)
🚨 Coach’s Corner
That “smooth closing” may have taken a TON of work behind the scenes.
If the Realtor never knows what you solved, they never know the value you brought.
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The average single-family mortgage holder paid $209 a month for property insurance in Q2 2026, a new record that now accounts for 9.6% of the average monthly mortgage payment, according to ICE.
Costs rose 8.7% year over year and are up nearly 80% since the start of 2020. The one bright spot: the pace of increase is slowing, with Q2's 1.8% quarterly gain the smallest since ICE began tracking the metric.
The regional gaps are stark. Insurance accounts for 24.3% of the average mortgage payment in New Orleans versus just 4.3% in San Jose. Greenville, Honolulu, and Minneapolis posted the biggest annual increases at 15.8%, 14.7%, and 13.1% respectively.
5. 30-year FRM tops 7% for the first time in over a year
The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage crossed over 7% on Thursday for the first time since May 2025, hitting 7.07%, according to Mortgage News Daily. That is an increase of 10 basis points from Wednesday. A basis point equals 0.01%.
Mortgage rates loosely follow the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury. It rose again Thursday as oil prices surged higher. That overshadowed a wholesale inflation reading that showed prices rose 0.4% in August, which was in line with Dow Jones consensus estimates.
“It’s been a rough couple of days for the bond market,” said Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily. “Yesterday, it was [Treasury Secretary] Bessent and the reaction to the Treasury buyback announcement. Today it is an overnight surge in oil prices and a lackluster reaction to the Producer Price Index (PPI).”
☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Monday!
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