Commercial & Residential Mortgage Finance

UWM Holdings said Tuesday it will automatically select the best credit score for each consumer by obtaining both FICO Scores and VantageScore 4.0 on all credit pulls, rather than relying on a single credit rating firm's score. "Our goal is simple: put borrowers in the best possible position while making it easier for brokers to do business," said UWMC President and CEO Mat Ishbia. The company said brokers will not have to navigate the nuances between scoring models because UWM will default to the strongest qualifying score available, helping borrowers receive the best possible outcome while creating a faster, more seamless experience for brokers. The FICO score is calculated by Fair Isaac, while VantageScore 4.0 is a competing model from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. UWM Holdings stock dropped 6.6% in regular-hours trading, while FICO rose 0.8%, TransUnion slipped 0.7%, and Equifax ticked down 0.1%.

Better Home & Finance's board special committee withdrew its challenge to preliminary election results showing former CEO Vishal Garg succeeded in removing five of the company's directors, sending the stock down 7.3% in midday Monday trading. The committee said it determined the decision was in the best interests of the company and all stockholders, citing the costs and uncertainty of a prolonged contest. On Friday, Garg said the independent election inspector hired to verify the proxy contest results confirmed that the Garg Group had received more than 52% of the votes required to remove five directors from the board, and that the group is working with the board to effectuate an orderly handover. Garg sought to unseat directors Daniel Lewis, Harit Talwar, Arnaud Massenet, Bhaskar Menon, and Prabhu Narasimhan, and to add his designees, Silicon Valley venture capitalists Bing Gordon and Steve Sarracino. Late last week, Better Home said Michael Farello had resigned from the board on Sept. 28, 2026, and over the past year the stock has plunged 80%.

UK house prices in September grew by only 0.8% year on year, the slowest rate since December last year and half the 1.6% increase seen in August, while falling short of economists' expectations of a 1.3% rise. Nationwide Building Society reported today that on a monthly basis, house prices fell 0.2% in September, the fastest decline since May and below analysts' expectations of a flat 0%. Nationwide's chief economist said activity in the market and house prices have remained subdued in recent months, partly reflecting an economic backdrop that remains uncertain, with higher borrowing costs due to the conflict in Iran weighing on demand.

UK house prices in September rose 0.8% compared with the same month a year earlier, the slowest annual pace since December 2025, and fell unexpectedly month-on-month, according to data published on the first of the month by Nationwide Building Society, the major UK mortgage lender. The annual increase was half the 1.6% recorded in August and also fell short of the 1.3% rise forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. On the month, prices fell 0.2%, while the market had expected them to be flat. Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said market transaction activity and house prices have been subdued in recent months, partly reflecting an uncertain economic environment, and noted that geopolitical tensions remain high, with conflict in the Middle East pushing up energy prices and stoking inflation concerns. He said that while there are signs that higher energy prices have not fed through into underlying inflationary pressures, investors' expectations that the Bank of England will raise interest rates continue to put upward pressure on mortgage rates.

JPMorgan has identified a basket of consumer-facing companies most vulnerable to agentic AI, warning that increasingly capable AI agents could weaken business models built around search friction, consumer inertia, switching costs and control over online traffic. The bank's U.S. Consumer Agentic AI Vulnerable basket spans travel, marketplaces, fintech, insurance, advertising and online discovery. The five largest positions are Ally Financial at a 7.1% weight, down 14% year to date; Rocket Companies at 7.0%, down 38% this year; Booking Holdings at 6.8%, down 27%; Expedia at 6.8%, down 8%; and Airbnb at 6.8%, up 12% year to date. JPMorgan's concern is less about AI replacing these companies outright and more about AI potentially sitting between them and their customers, which could be especially disruptive for businesses built around discovery, comparison or lead generation. The metrics to watch will be direct traffic, customer-acquisition costs, conversion rates, lead volumes and whether these companies can integrate their own agentic tools quickly enough to defend the customer relationship.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are tightening their standards for acceptable condo financing, changes that take effect between now and early 2027 and could further complicate an already struggling condo market. The mortgage giants, which support about 70% of the mortgage market, eliminated "limited reviews" last month in favor of closer reviews for all but the smallest buildings, and starting in January they will require condo associations to allocate at least 15% of their assessment income toward reserves, up from 10% today. The changes are part of an ongoing effort to improve condo safety after the deadly collapse of an aging building in Surfside, Fla., in 2021, but they add a new roadblock to a market already seeing slumping prices, growing supply, and buyer skepticism toward special assessments and monthly fees. Nationally, condo prices have fallen 2% from peak prices a few years earlier, according to Zillow data, with far steeper drops in some markets: Punta Gorda, Fla., is down 35% from its September 2022 peak, Tampa has seen a 24% decline, the median condo in Austin, Texas, is down 28%, and prices in Denver and Raleigh have fallen more than 16%. Condo sales were down 2.7% in August compared to a year earlier, according to National Association of Realtors data, while single-family home sales saw a smaller 1.1% drop, and nationwide condo supply sits at 6.6 months versus a more balanced 4.7 months for single-family homes. Agents and lenders told Yahoo Finance that the key for buyers and sellers is to learn about the HOA and gather necessary paperwork as early as possible, with Realtor Justyn LeFebvre of Christie's International Real Estate in Austin noting that the biggest bottleneck is the HOAs themselves producing these studies.

The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Better Home & Finance Holding Company has opened an investigation into credible and serious allegations that its director and former CEO, Vishal Garg, sought to exchange Company interests and property to former employees who are Company shareholders in return for consents to his proposal to replace the Board of Directors. The allegations, brought to the Company by independent counsel for a former employee, raise significant issues of breach of fiduciary duties if true, and the Company said Garg is not entitled to promise Company assets, interests or benefits in exchange for written consents in his proxy contest. The Company added that Garg's conduct in this matter has already compromised its ability to maximize the value of certain assets and claims, and it expects all directors, including Garg, to abide by their duties of loyalty. The Special Committee unanimously recommends that shareholders sign, date and return the WHITE consent revocation card and disregard any green consent card received from Garg, and that shareholders who previously signed a green card may revoke that consent by returning the WHITE card. Better Home & Finance, which trades on NASDAQ under BETR, describes itself as the first AI-native mortgage and home equity finance platform and the first fintech to fund more than $110 billion in loan volume.

Economist Julia Coronado said higher interest rates are here to stay, calling the pain in housing the necessary cost of bringing inflation down. Speaking on Marketplace Morning Report, Coronado noted the most recent Fed hike was unanimous, which she said removes the strongest early signal that a pivot is being debated inside the room. The federal funds upper bound sits at 4.00% as of September 22, 2026, the 10-year Treasury yield closed at 4.96%, and WTI crude has climbed to $107.02 a barrel, while core PCE keeps drifting up. Existing-home sales fell to 3.98 million units annualized in August, the lowest print in a year, and Rocket Companies CFO Brian Brown said on the Q2 2026 call that the expected housing recovery in 2026 has not materialized, guiding Q3 adjusted revenue to $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion. Rocket shares closed at $12.74, down 34.19% year-to-date, even as its $2 trillion servicing book holds $320 billion in above-6% mortgages ready to refinance if rates fall.

The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Better Home & Finance Holding Company said former CEO Vishal Garg has not obtained consents from anywhere near the 46% of the Company's voting power he now claims in his campaign to remove board members. The committee said most of Garg's claimed support comes from his own super-voting shares and those of a small number of long-time allies, and it noted that just weeks ago Garg claimed to have more than 50% of the vote, a claim that proved false. The committee said the Company did provide Garg's counsel with three separate share ownership lists, every list he asked for, and that Garg's own legal counsel neglected to share those lists with him or his proxy solicitor. The Special Committee unanimously recommends that shareholders sign, date and return the WHITE consent revocation card and disregard any green consent card received from Garg, and that shareholders who previously signed a green card may revoke that consent by returning the WHITE card.

Freddie Mac reported that the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.71% this week, up from 6.66% the previous week, reaching its highest level since last July. As rising energy prices due to heightened tensions in the Middle East push up inflation, this is a fresh blow to households struggling with housing affordability. Mortgage rates track U.S. Treasury yields, which have been rising due to concerns over swelling government borrowing, competition for funding for AI-related infrastructure, and price pressures from U.S.-Iran tensions. However, on the 3rd, the 10-year Treasury yield fell after Fed Governor Waller indicated he would support holding the policy rate steady at the FOMC if inflation slowdown is confirmed.

Vishal Garg, the CEO who abruptly dismissed 900 employees via Zoom in December 2021, was himself abruptly fired this month by Better Home & Finance's board after the company suffered $1.5 billion in losses and a 90% stock price decline. Garg is now offering to work for $1 a year until the company turns a profit, and he wants five of eight board directors and his replacement CEO Daniel Lewis to step aside. He claims support from over 50% of voting shareholders and calls the board's allegations 'bubkus,' while the board has filed a complaint in the U.S. Southern District of New York accusing him of breaking securities laws with misleading statements. Better, which went public in 2023 with SoftBank backing, is now worth $300 million, a 96% drop from its peak.

Radian Group's second quarter results disappointed Wall Street, with revenue of $580.7 million and adjusted EPS of $1.14 both falling short of analyst estimates. The company attributed the 90.8% year-over-year revenue growth to a full quarter of contributions from newly acquired specialty insurer Intego and continued strength in its core mortgage insurance business. CEO Richard Thornberry highlighted progress in divesting non-core operations and focusing on insurance, while CFO Dan Kobell addressed a $30 million provision for Middle East conflict-related losses, saying the company feels well reserved but continues to monitor the situation. Analysts also probed the specialty combined ratio, expense trends, and potential for increased capital returns once debt is repaid.