Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s biweekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it every other Friday afternoon.
- Michelle Bowman, a governor at the Federal Reserve and the Fed’s Vice Chair for Supervision, told the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, February 26 that she intends to announce an update to the Basel III regulatory framework for bank capital requirements; Bowman has said she hopes to reduce the burden on community banks, and in previous comments argued that existing regulations reduced participation in mortgage lending.
- A letter signed by the Mortgage Bankers Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Housing Policy Council, among other industry advocates, is lauding Bowman’s “renewed effort” to “reexamine” capital requirements being put forward as part of the Basel III Endgame rule.
- Mortgage rates have posted some of their lowest rates in the latter half of February 2026, dipping below 6% for the first time in years. Mortgage News Daily described the final week of February 2026 as “the best week for mortgage rates in years.”
- In an interview on Fox Business, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director (FHFA) Bill Pulte credited President Trump’s move of directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds.
- In that same interview, Pulte described an effort inside the administration to push Trump to sell Fannie and Freddie for $100 billion, which he described as “nonsense.” However, Pulte also claimed that an initial public offering (IPO) to allow investors to buy into the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) is “more likely than not,” though stressed “everything is on the table.” Trump has voiced support towards the idea of removing the GSEs from government conservatorship, in place since 2008, during his 2024 presidential campaign and the first year of his administration after a previous effort did not pan out during his first administration.
- Due to lower mortgage rates, there has also been a swell of homeowners refinancing their mortgages in February 2026; refinancing applications reached 57.4% of total applications in February, and the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Refinance Index increased 132% year-over-year.
- United Wholesale Mortgage posted strong fourth quarter and year-over-year results in its Q4 2025 earnings report, buoyed in part by the lower mortgage rates attracting more purchase and especially refinance applicants.
- Rocket Companies, parent company of Rocket Mortgage, also posted results that exceeded expectations in its own Q4 2025 earnings report, with a total net revenue of $6.7 billion.
- Rocket continues to move forward with aggressive strategic moves, including a newly announced three-year partnership with Compass that will see the company’s private listings displayed on Redfin (acquired by Rocket Companies last year). The partnership has been characterized (by Compass at least) as the next step in an ongoing conflict with Zillow over private listings, which is also playing out in the courts.
- Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. has announced it is entering the home insurance market by partnering with the insurance company the Baldwin Group.
- The FHFA is being sued by journalists and nonprofits seeking to review its records and activity on fraud enforcement.
- A newly-filed class-action lawsuit by three homebuyers targets three mortgage companies: Realty Search Solutions (aka Veterans United Realty) and the Mortgage Research Center. The lawsuit, Peyton v. Veterans United Home Loans, alleges that the three companies falsely advertised that they are part of the Veteran’s Affairs department, as well as supposedly steering clients.
- Mortgage lender Rate has announced it is considering allowing homebuyers to use cryptocurrency and stablecoin assets to underwrite their mortgages. Rate has also partnered with wealth and savings platform Betterment to offer mortgage incentives to customers of the platform. Betterment customers with at least $100,000 in combined investment and cash balances who apply for a mortgage through Rate may qualify for $500 in closing-cost credits and an interest rate discount of up to 0.75%. The promotion runs through the end of 2026.
Editor’s note: this article was updated at 2:55 p.m. and 3:17 p.m. EST with additional information about the MBA’s support for Bowman, a correction on Rate’s crypto program and information on Pulte’s comments on a GSE IPO.
