Mortgage rates dropped again, but homebuyers are still leaving

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1. Mortgage rates dropped again, but homebuyers are still leaving

The 30-year fixed fell to 7.30% last week from 7.37%, its third straight weekly decline and the lowest level since September. Rates are still about a full percentage point above last year, which leaves borrowers little reason to refinance.

Total application volume dropped 1.2% for the week. Purchase apps fell 2% and are 19% below a year ago. Refi apps were essentially flat, up 0.1%, and are 60% lower than last year. The ARM share climbed to its highest level since September 2025, with the 5/1 ARM rate at 6.29%.

2. Rocket's new tool lets brokers counter rival Refi offers on the spot

Rocket Pro is rolling out Quick Counter, a tool that lets brokers upload a competitor’s Loan Estimate and generate a counteroffer while the borrower is still on the phone.

It supports cash-out and rate-and-term refinances, with real-time changes to rates, points and loan terms, and sits inside Rocket Pro Navigate. The goal is to stop brokers losing deals to callbacks.

It is the latest in a run of broker incentives. Rocket’s 60-basis-point credits have produced more than $3 billion in locks, Orbit launched in October, and more than 200 new brokers have been approved in the last 90 days, per Rocket. Rocket has no estimate yet of how effective Quick Counter will be.

Join us for a Webinar on VA Lending

Veterans and military families represent one of the most resilient and qualified buyer segments in today’s housing market, yet misperceptions surrounding VA financing continue to create friction and leave deals on the table.

On November 18 at 11 a.m. PT, join Cotality and a panel of VA lending experts for a tactical panel discussion exploring how leading lenders win more VA volume by navigating guidelines, eliminating overlays, busting listing agent myths and helping servicemembers build wealth through homeownership.

Our panel of experts:

• Robin Clayton, Head of Product Strategy, Mortgage Data Solutions at Cotality

• Brittani Ivey, Executive Vice President, Real Estate Lending at Navy Federal Credit Union

• Major Singleton, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Mortgage Broker & Owner at Major Money Matters (powered by Edge Home Finance)

• Major Ed Pulido, U.S. Army (Ret.), Customer Relations Training Officer at First American Title & Founder of Major Ed: Empower the Veterans Foundation

Register here

3. More Nuggets

🔔 ‘Yes In God’s Backyard’: Churches are turning their land into affordable housing. (WSJ)

⛓️‍💥 Mortgage business expansion killed Tioga-Franklin: FDIC OIG. (BankingDive)

🤔 Could dual licensing grow as agents, LOs seek revenue opportunities? (HW)

📰 Dark Matter acquires House Numbers’ agentic AI platform for home lending, names Jeff Levinsohn chief AI officer. (Dark Matter)

💸 Pennymac made $29M. Its origination business lost money. (NMP)

📊 Better adds $140M production team to NEO Home Loans. (Stock Titan)

4. Lead sources shift as trigger lead ban reshapes mortgage marketing

Congress largely ended the trigger lead business, which let lenders buy the names of consumers who had just applied for a mortgage elsewhere. Some brokers were buying thousands of those leads a day. With that source mostly gone, lenders have had to find new borrowers elsewhere.

Most are now buying from two sources. 

• The first is credit bureau prescreen lists, built from a lender’s own credit criteria. These are being bought in the hundreds of thousands, sometimes for pennies per lead.

• The second is property-based targeting, which matches homeowners to a loan type and state and adds data on equity, other properties, servicers and estimated rates.

Location triggers still exist, but lenders mostly use them to monitor existing customers for recapture rather than to find new ones.

5. West Capital drops its loanDepot suit as other legal fights pile up

West Capital Lending voluntarily dismissed its federal lawsuit against loanDepot on Oct. 20, three weeks after a judge ruled it had not shown how loanDepot’s alleged compensation violations caused its own losses.

The brokerage had claimed loanDepot’s pay structure for production managers broke federal lending rules by tying incentives to loan pricing.

West Capital still faces several other fights:

• loanDepot: alleges West Capital recruited more than 175 loan originators and misused confidential borrower data, including LendingTree leads it says were resold to independent contractors. West Capital denies the claims.

• Griffin Funding: alleges at least 203 loans were diverted, costing more than $3.7 million in revenue, and is reportedly seeking up to $11.1 million in treble damages.

• Wage claims: a former loan closer has reportedly brought a class action over unpaid overtime and minimum wages that could cover 50+ employees.

None of the allegations have been proven. West Capital was also fined $75,000 by Washington regulators in July over licensing and compliance issues, which it neither admitted nor denied.

One tweet: Arghh 😂

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Friday!

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