New York, Jan 12, 2026, 07:51 EST — Premarket
- Rocket Companies slipped 0.6% in premarket, pulling back after Friday’s surge tied to housing data.
- Mortgage rates hovered around 6.2% as investors debated if bond purchases would help tighten spreads.
- Traders are eyeing Tuesday’s U.S. inflation figures and whether mortgage-backed bond buying picks up.
Shares of Rocket Companies slipped 0.6% to $23.14 in premarket trading Monday, after closing at $23.29 on Friday.
The move happened while “mortgage rates today” lingered near the mid-6% mark, prompting investors to weigh if a surge in government-backed mortgage bond purchases will shift the rate outlook ahead of the spring selling season.
Bankrate’s newest lender survey shows the national average for a 30-year fixed mortgage APR at 6.24%, while the 30-year fixed refinance APR sits at 6.61%. These APR figures factor in lender fees and other costs bundled into the borrowing rate.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration’s mortgage-backed securities plan aims to roughly track the Federal Reserve’s balance-sheet runoff pace, following the White House directive for the Federal Housing Finance Agency to manage $200 billion in purchases. FHFA Director William Pulte confirmed an initial $3 billion buying round is underway. Bessent noted the purchases are “unlikely” to directly lower mortgage rates but might do so indirectly by tightening the yield spread investors require over Treasuries for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage bonds. Reuters
The spread trade sparked a surge in housing-related stocks Friday. loanDepot climbed roughly 24%, Rocket gained 6.6%, and UWM Holdings added 11.6%. Opendoor Technologies rallied nearly 19%, Reuters reported. “Every little bit will help push mortgage yields lower, but this might be self-defeating in terms of housing affordability,” Brian Jacobsen of Annex Wealth Management told Reuters. Reuters
Loan officers and equity desks see it as a volume play: falling rates could lure refinancers back, break sellers’ “rate lock” hold, and boost origination pipelines. But it’s also about spreads. Mortgage-backed securities are bonds backed by home loans; when bond yields fall, mortgage rates typically trail behind.
loanDepot shares dipped 2.1% to $2.85 in premarket action on Monday, slipping from their Friday close at $2.91, according to Public market data.
Politics around the two mortgage giants remains a major overhang. Analysts caution that using Fannie and Freddie as policy tools could derail long-standing hopes they’ll eventually exit government control. “This does not sound like a President who is in a rush to IPO the enterprises,” said TD Cowen’s Jaret Seiberg. Mike O’Rourke of JonesTrading put it more bluntly: “If the GSEs can serve as a funding arm for Presidential policy, we shouldn’t ever expect them to be re-privatized again.” Reuters
Macro risks remain, with rates capable of reversing sharply. On Monday, U.S. stock index futures dropped as concerns surfaced over Fed independence and a proposed cap on credit card interest rates hit financial stocks, Reuters reported. Shifts at the long end of the Treasury curve often ripple into mortgages, regardless of housing news.
Inflation data and the weekly mortgage rate figures are on deck. Freddie Mac’s recent survey pegged the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.16% for the week ending Jan. 8. The next reading is set for Jan. 15.
