New York, January 11, 2026, 08:50 EST — Market closed.
- Meritage shares jumped about 10% on Friday, outpacing many homebuilder peers
- Traders are weighing whether a federal mortgage-bond buying plan can really pull rates down
- Next tests: U.S. inflation data Tuesday, then Meritage’s late-January earnings
Meritage Homes Corporation (MTH.N) shares jumped 10.4% to $75.45 at Friday’s close, as homebuilder stocks rallied after President Donald Trump announced a plan aimed at pushing mortgage rates lower. U.S. markets are shut on Sunday.
That matters now because housing demand has been held hostage by monthly payments. Builders can adjust prices and incentives, but rates still drive who can qualify and who walks away.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration’s mortgage-bond buying is meant to roughly match the Federal Reserve’s monthly runoff of about $15 billion in mortgage-backed securities — bundles of home loans sold to investors. “So I think the idea is to roughly match the Fed,” Bessent told Reuters. He said the buying is unlikely to push mortgage rates down directly, but could do so indirectly by narrowing the gap between mortgage bonds and Treasuries. Reuters
Housing-linked names ran with it. The Philadelphia Housing index gained 4.8% on Friday, while Lennar rose about 7.5% and D.R. Horton climbed 6%; PulteGroup added 6%. “Every little bit will help push mortgage yields lower, but this might be self-defeating,” Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management, said. Reuters
Meritage, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, builds single-family homes across three U.S. regions and also operates a financial services segment tied to home sales. Its footprint spans 12 states, including Texas, Arizona and Florida.
For Meritage investors, the question is whether Friday’s move was a one-day rates trade or the start of a repricing. The stock can stay bid if mortgage costs keep easing, but it will need fresh proof in orders and margins.
Before Monday’s open, traders will watch whether mortgage spreads tighten — the difference between yields on mortgage bonds and Treasuries that feeds into what borrowers pay. Any added detail on how fast the buying ramps could move the whole group again.
The next hard macro marker is U.S. consumer price inflation for December, due Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
But a policy move that stokes demand does not fix the supply squeeze, and higher demand can keep home prices stubborn even if rates drift lower. A hot inflation print would also threaten the trade fast by pushing Treasury yields up and dragging mortgage rates with them.
Meritage is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results after the market closes on Jan. 28 and will host a conference call at 10:00 a.m. EST on Jan. 29, the company said. That’s the next clean catalyst for the stock.
