
Stocks are lower this morning as hostilities continue in the Strait of Hormuz. Bonds and MBS are flat.
New home sales fell 18% MOM and 11% YOY to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 587,000 units. This was an inauspicious start to the 2026 season. Note that new home sales estimates have huge standard deviations, so you should take any big moves with a grain of salt.

There were 476,000 new homes for sale at the end of the month, which represents a 10 month supply. There are a lot of new homes for sale right now, and inventory (as represented by month’s supply) is higher than the long term average of around 6 – 7 months.

The Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell slightly in January, according to the Conference Board. “The U.S. LEI fell further in January, as consumer expectations retreated again and building permits softened,” said Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, Senior Manager, Business Cycle Indicators, at The Conference Board. “While the topline LEI continues to signal headwinds to economic activity, the strengths among its components on the six-month basis were widespread for three straight months (November 2025–January 2026), with 7 out of 10 components advancing. As the latest LEI data do not yet reflect the impact from war in Iran, The Conference Board revised GDP growth down by 0.1 ppt to 2.0% y/y for 2026, which will be lower than growth in 2025.”
Market indicators (stock market performance, credit spreads), were positive contributors, while housing and consumer confidence had negative impacts.
Home flipping profits are the lowest since the Great Recession, according to data from ATTOM. This is interesting because it seems a lot of capital is flowing into the RTL space. Last year, about 297k homes were flipped which was the lowest since 2020. The flipping business boomed in the aftermath of the Great Recession as a glut of undervalued properties hit the market. Now it is harder as inventory is more picked-over and margins are lower.
“Competition for homes remains strong in many markets due to constrained supply,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. “With prices staying elevated, investors are finding it harder to secure deals that deliver strong returns.”
“Flippers are having to get more creative to maintain profitability,” he added. “That could include taking on older homes, as the median flipped property in 2025 was built in 1978, the oldest since we began tracking, along with tighter cost control and more disciplined renovation strategies.”
The MBA put out a statement of support for the proposed new Basel regulations for banks. The proposal would eliminate the harsh treatment of mortgage servicing rights, and also take a more nuanced approach to the required capital for mortgages in general. Right now, mortgages are treated the same, whether or not the underlying property has a lot of equity or very little.
The federal banking agencies’ updated Basel III proposal represents a pivotal step toward a more balanced and risk-aligned approach to capital standards affecting mortgage lending and commercial real estate finance.
Capital rules are notoriously complex, but based on our initial review, the re-proposal incorporates several priorities long advocated by MBA, including more risk-sensitive capital requirements using loan-to-value ratios and the opportunity to consider the recognition of credit enhancements such as private mortgage insurance. It also takes important steps to reduce the punitive treatment of mortgage servicing rights and commercial real estate loans.
MBA will review the proposal closely and looks forward to engaging in the formal comment process, including on key technical elements such as the appropriate capital treatment of mortgage servicing assets and the broader application of these reforms across the banking system. We stand ready to work with the agencies on a final framework that better supports sustainable mortgage origination and warehouse lending, robust servicing capacity, and continued access to affordable home financing offered by both depositories and independent mortgage banks.”















