How the mortgage market works: origination, the secondary market and who holds your loan

Written by Samantha SheltonNMLS 1647301Updated November 2026

About 64% of the $14.82 trillion in one-to-four-family mortgage debt outstanding in the United States at the end of the first quarter of 2026 was held by the government-sponsored enterprises or by agency- and GSE-backed mortgage pools, not by the company that originated the loan. Banks and credit unions held roughly 26%, and insurers, mortgage REITs and private securitization trusts split the rest.

Those figures come from the Federal Reserve’s Financial Accounts of the United States, first quarter 2026, released June 11, 2026. They point at the most misunderstood thing about this market: making a loan and owning one are two different businesses.

Here’s how the mortgage market works end to end: how a loan is originated, how it is sold into the secondary market, what securitization does, and who ultimately holds and services the debt.

Key takeaways:

• There are two mortgage markets, not one: a primary market where lenders originate loans and a secondary market where they are pooled and sold, which held roughly 64% of the $14.82 trillion in U.S. one-to-four-family mortgage debt as of the first quarter of 2026.
• Agency rules define the box your loan has to fit: the 2026 baseline conforming loan limit for a one-unit home is $832,750, up from $806,500 in 2025, and FHFA resets it every November.
• Owning a loan and servicing it are separate jobs: your old servicer must notify you at least 15 days before a transfer, and for 60 days afterward an on-time payment sent there cannot be treated as late.

What is the mortgage market?

The mortgage market routes investor money to home buyers and payments back to investors, and it has two halves: a primary market, where lenders originate loans, and a secondary market, where those loans are bought, pooled into securities and sold. At the end of the first quarter of 2026 it carried $14.82 trillion in one-to-four-family residential mortgage debt, $13.82 trillion of it owed by households.

The halves depend on each other. A lender that had to hold every loan it made would run out of money after a few dozen closings; because it can sell within weeks, the same capital funds borrower after borrower. That recycling is why a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage exists at scale here.

It also explains why the market feels standardized: the buyer at the end of the chain purchases a pool, not your file, so the loans in it have to look alike, which is what guidelines, appraisal rules and loan limits are for. Our Trends in Mortgage Lending guide tracks how those standards shifted; our Mortgage Rates & Market guide covers pricing.

How a mortgage gets originated

Origination is the primary-market half, and it runs on a federal clock: after you apply you must receive a Loan Estimate within three business days, and the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before closing. Those timelines come from Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.19(e) and (f), which also bars any fee beyond a reasonable credit-report charge until you have that estimate and told the lender to proceed.

Between those disclosures sits underwriting, where the secondary market reaches into your file. The lender is not deciding whether it trusts you; it is checking your file against the guidelines of whoever will buy the loan. The ability-to-repay rule at 12 CFR 1026.43 sits underneath, and Qualified Mortgages get added legal protection. That standard no longer turns on a fixed 43% debt-to-income ceiling: the CFPB’s General QM final rule, issued December 10, 2020, replaced the limit with price-based thresholds.

Interest rate versus APR

The interest rate prices the borrowed money. The APR, defined at 12 CFR 1026.22(a)(1), measures the cost of credit as a yearly rate relating the amount and timing of what you receive to what you pay, folding in prepaid finance charges under Appendix J. Not the same as “rate plus all fees.” Regulation Z treats it as accurate within one-eighth of a percentage point on regular transactions and one-quarter on irregular ones, and on adjustable-rate loans it rests on assumptions that may not hold.

A broker changes the shape of this step but not the rules: one application, shopped to wholesale lenders that price to the same investors from different cost bases. That comparison matters most when payments are tight, see Affordability Challenges in Today’s Housing Market.

What happens after closing: the secondary market and securitization

Within weeks of closing, most loans are sold. The lender that funded yours sells it, alone or bundled with similar loans, and the buyer either holds it or pools it into a mortgage-backed security whose investors receive what homeowners pay. Securitization is that pooling step: many loans in, one tradable bond out.

Three names dominate the guarantee layer that makes those bonds sellable, and none lends to consumers. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, chartered by Congress in 1938 and 1970, buy mortgages and either hold them or package them into securities; FHFA is explicit that neither originates loans, and both have been in conservatorship since September 6, 2008 under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. Ginnie Mae, under 12 U.S.C. 1721(g), guarantees timely payment of principal and interest on securities backed by federally insured or guaranteed loans (FHA, VA and rural housing) with the full faith and credit of the United States pledged behind it.

The conforming loan limit is this structure’s most visible consequence for borrowers. It is the largest loan Fannie and Freddie may buy, and FHFA set the 2026 baseline one-unit value at $832,750 on November 25, 2025, a $26,250 increase driven by a 3.26% rise in its house price index between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025. High-cost areas, where 115% of the local median exceeds the baseline, run to a $1,249,125 ceiling. Cross the applicable limit and your loan becomes a jumbo, priced by whoever will buy it rather than by agency rule: a borrower in Oakland County, Michigan needing $860,000 is shopping jumbo terms; the same borrower at $820,000 is not.¹

Who’s who in the mortgage market

What does a loan need to count as a Qualified Mortgage today?

Under the current text of 12 CFR 1026.43(e)(2), a General Qualified Mortgage has regular, substantially equal payments that do not raise the principal balance, defer principal or end in a balloon; a term that does not exceed 30 years; and points and fees inside the cap in paragraph (e)(3). The CFPB’s consumer explainer on what a Qualified Mortgage is lists the same excluded features in plain terms: interest-only periods, negative amortization, balloon payments and loan terms longer than 30 years.

• The price test that replaced the 43% ceiling: for a first-lien loan of $110,260 or more (indexed for inflation), the APR may not exceed the average prime offer rate for a comparable transaction by 2.25 or more percentage points as of the date the rate is set, according to 1026.43(e)(2)(vi)(A). Smaller loans get wider margins, up to 6.5 points for a subordinate-lien loan under $66,156.
• The points-and-fees cap: total points and fees may not exceed 3 percent of the total loan amount when the loan amount is $100,000 or more (indexed for inflation), per 1026.43(e)(3)(i)(A). Smaller loans have their own dollar or percentage caps.
• The dollar lines move every January 1: the rule adjusts the price-test amounts each year by the annual change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers reported on the preceding June 1.

The amendment behind those thresholds was published in the Federal Register on December 29, 2020, at 85 FR 86308, effective March 1, 2021. Its summary shows how closely the rule was tied to the secondary market: in 2013 the CFPB created a temporary Qualified Mortgage category for loans eligible for purchase or guarantee by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac while they operate under FHFA conservatorship, and a separate rule released October 20, 2020 set that category to expire on the mandatory compliance date of the new General QM definition. Our guide to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac covers what conservatorship means for the two companies.

Hypothetical example, not an offer. On a loan whose total loan amount, as Regulation Z defines it, is $400,000, a 3 percent cap equals $12,000 in points and fees. The CFPB’s explainer is direct about the result of crossing it: “If the points and fees exceed the threshold, then the loan can’t be considered a Qualified Mortgage.” Which charges count is laid out in mortgage closing costs; the ratio underwriters still weigh is in debt-to-income ratio and mortgage underwriting; the measure the price test uses is explained in annual percentage rate (APR); and loans built outside these lines are covered in non-conforming loans.

Who ultimately holds your loan?

The government-sponsored enterprises and agency-backed pools held about 64% of U.S. one-to-four-family mortgage debt at the end of the first quarter of 2026; portfolio lenders keeping loans on their own books held about 26%.²

One more holder is worth naming: the Federal Reserve owned $1.91 trillion in agency mortgage-backed securities as of August 26, 2026, down about $189 billion from a year earlier, per its H.4.1 release of August 27, 2026. Those securities are guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, so Fed buying or runoff shifts demand for the bonds that price your loan.

None of this changes who you pay. The CFPB draws the line plainly: your servicer sends statements and manages the loan day to day, while your lender is the institution that originally loaned you the money. Servicing rights trade as an asset, which is why your servicer can change when your loan does not. Under 12 CFR 1024.33 the old servicer must notify you at least 15 days before the effective date and the new one no more than 15 days after, and for 60 days an on-time payment reaching the old servicer cannot be treated as late. Your rate, balance and terms do not change. Only the mailing address does.

How much mortgage debt is outstanding, and how many new loans are being made?

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, released August 11, 2026, reported mortgage balances of $13.1 trillion at the end of June, down $74 billion in the second quarter, with $505 billion in new mortgages originated during the quarter. Home equity lines of credit rose $13 billion to $459 billion, and total household debt was $18.8 trillion.

That $13.1 trillion is lower than the $13.82 trillion household figure at the top of this page because it comes from a different data set, so read each series against its own history rather than against the other. The Financial Accounts have also moved on since the first-quarter tables used above: the Federal Reserve posted the second-quarter 2026 Financial Accounts on September 11, 2026 and lists December 10, 2026 for the next release.

Who made the loans is public record as well. The CFPB reported on March 31, 2026 that 2025 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data were available for approximately 4,768 filers. Each filer’s loan-level file, modified to protect consumer privacy, can be downloaded from the FFIEC’s HMDA Platform. Before that data went online, the CFPB notes, users could get a lender’s file only by requesting it from that institution. Our guide to comparing mortgage lenders covers the questions that data cannot answer.

How the secondary market sets your rate

Mortgage rates are set by the bond market, not by the Federal Reserve. A 30-year loan is not an overnight loan, and our guide to the Federal Reserve and mortgage rates traces the transmission chain from the policy rate to your quote.

The practical benchmark is the 10-year Treasury yield plus a spread. Across 2,892 weekly observations from April 1971 through August 2026, Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed survey average has run 1.76 percentage points above the 10-year Treasury constant-maturity yield, with a median gap of 1.67 points.³ That spread is not fixed: it averaged 1.34 points in the 1970s and 2.26 in the 2020s, which is why a falling Treasury yield does not always deliver a matching drop in mortgage pricing. Our guide to the Federal Reserve and Mortgage Rates walks that chain step by step, and Impact of Mortgage Rate Volatility on Housing covers what happens when it moves fast.

We do not publish a view on where rates go next, and you should be skeptical of any licensed broker who does; Mortgage Rate Predictions covers who makes forecasts and how they have held up. For the current average, go to the source: Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey has published rate data since April 1971 and releases Thursdays at noon Eastern.

How wide is the gap between Treasury yields and mortgage rates right now?

Wider than its long-run average. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed average at 7.32% for October 22, 2026, down from 7.40% the week before and up from 6.19% a year earlier, with the 15-year at 6.68%. The Treasury Department’s daily Treasury par yield table shows the 10-year at 4.96% the same day. By the pairing method in footnote 3 (the 10-year value here is read from Treasury’s daily par yield table rather than FRED series DGS10, which reports the same yield), that is a gap of 2.36 percentage points, wider than the 1.76-point mean since 1971 and the 2.26-point average for the 2020s. These are market averages, not offers.

The overnight rate tells a different story. The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds target range by 1/4 percentage point to 3-3/4 to 4 percent on September 16, 2026, then on October 28, 2026 kept it at 3-3/4 to 4 percent, with Lisa D. Cook and Beth M. Hammack voting for another 1/4-point increase. The implementation note issued with that decision says to “reinvest all principal payments from the Federal Reserve’s holdings of agency securities into Treasury bills,” so principal payments on the agency mortgage-backed securities the Fed holds go into Treasury bills rather than into new mortgage-backed securities.

For one borrower, the gap shows up as a price on a specific day. What a mortgage rate lock is covers how that price is held through closing, how rates work covers the inputs behind it, mortgage rate buydowns cover paying points to change it, and the mortgage disclosure rules cover the Loan Estimate that lists those fees.

How industry structure shows up in your rate and your options

Two lenders pulling from the same secondary market, on the same file, still produce different numbers for four structural reasons.

• Overlays: Agency minimums are floors. Each creditor stacks its own credit, reserve, documentation and property requirements on top, because it carries the repurchase risk under its selling contract.
• Servicing economics: A lender that keeps servicing values your loan differently from one that sells it servicing-released. That difference lands in your pricing.
• Execution channel: Whether the loan goes to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, a Ginnie Mae pool or a private investor changes what the loan is worth, which changes what the lender can offer.
• Program appetite: Lenders enter and exit niches (manufactured housing, small multifamily, non-QM, construction) on their own schedules, which is why a file that is easy at one shop is impossible at another.

The practical consequence for you is simple. Because the industry is a network of competing creditors rather than a single price-setter, the only way to see the spread is to put quotes side by side, which is the whole argument for working with a mortgage broker rather than applying at one shop and hoping.

What to watch, and where to look it up

Three public series describe this market’s machinery, each answering a different question. Reading them as if they measured the same thing produces contradictory headlines in the same week.

• Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey: weekly average offered rates on conventional, conforming, 20%-down purchase loans for strong-credit borrowers, a benchmark, not your quote.
• FHFA’s conforming loan limit announcement: released each November, it sets the next year’s ceiling for Fannie and Freddie purchases ($832,750 baseline for 2026) and quietly moves some borrowers between conforming and jumbo pricing. Check your county in FHFA’s conforming loan limit values.
• Home price indexes, which disagree on purpose: the FHFA House Price Index is repeat-sales and built only from mortgages purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac since January 1975, so it excludes jumbo, cash and most government-backed sales; the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller indices (formerly S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller) are repeat-sales but not limited to conforming loans; the National Association of Realtors’ median price moves with the mix of homes that sold, not only appreciation. FHFA’s latest quarterly reading covers 2026’s second quarter, the next set for November 24, 2026.

For what a month’s readings mean for buyers and sellers, our Housing Market Trends hub and regular Market Update cover current conditions, and the 2026 Housing Market Outlook gathers published forecasts. This page stays on the plumbing, which does not change every quarter.

What Michigan buyers should know

Michigan sits entirely inside the baseline. All 83 counties carry the 2026 one-unit conforming loan limit of $832,750 in FHFA’s county file, none qualifying as high-cost, so the conforming-versus-jumbo line falls in the same place in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Kent counties as in most of the country.

• One limit statewide, with multi-unit headroom: the 2026 Michigan values run $832,750 for one unit, $1,066,250 for two, $1,288,800 for three and $1,601,750 for four, so a small multi-family can stay conforming at a price that would be jumbo on a single-family home.
• MSHDA is a separate channel with its own ceiling: the MI Home Loan is open to first-time buyers statewide, not having owned a home in the previous three years, and to repeat buyers in targeted areas, with a $566,355 statewide sales price limit after June 1, 2026, a 640 minimum credit score, income limits varying by family size and location, and a required housing education class. That ceiling sits far below $832,750, so a Michigan buyer can be comfortably conforming and still outside MSHDA’s box.
• MI 10K DPA rides on top: up to $10,000 toward down payment, closing costs and prepaid expenses as an interest-free loan with no monthly payments, statewide, paired with a MSHDA MI Home Loan. Repayment is deferred until the first mortgage is paid off, the home is sold or refinanced, or it stops being owner-occupied.

Because Align is a broker, we can run the same borrower through both channels, conforming across our wholesale lender network and MSHDA through approved lenders, and compare the cost.

How does Michigan record and license the companies that hold your mortgage?

Michigan law sets rules for the companies that make, service and discharge a mortgage, and the county register of deeds keeps the recorded paper trail.

• Licensing: Michigan’s Mortgage Brokers, Lenders, and Servicers Licensing Act, 1987 PA 173, says a person shall not act as a mortgage broker, mortgage lender or mortgage servicer without first obtaining a license under the act or registering under its section 6, unless an exemption applies, per MCL 445.1652. Servicing is named in the act alongside lending, so the company that takes over your payments falls under the same statute as the one that closed the loan.
• Recording: the mortgage, each recorded assignment and the final discharge sit with the register of deeds in the county where the home is. Under MCL 600.2567, the register’s fee is $30.00 to record a document regardless of the number of pages, plus $3.00 for each additional instrument when one document assigns or discharges more than one. Oakland County’s Tract Index Unit, for example, can provide the assignments recorded for a mortgage using the mortgage’s liber and page, from a computer database that runs from January 1964.
• Payoff: after a mortgage is paid or otherwise satisfied, the mortgagee, or its successor or assign, must prepare a discharge, file it with the register of deeds for the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee, per MCL 565.41. The time limit is 60 days under MCL 565.44(2), and a mortgagee that refuses or neglects to discharge after being asked and paid its reasonable charges is liable for $1,000.00 in damages plus actual damages.
• Enforcement follows the paper trail: under MCL 600.3204, a party may foreclose by advertisement only if it owns the debt, owns an interest in it or is the servicing agent, and a party that is not the original mortgagee needs a record chain of title showing the assignment to it before the sale date.

The federal rules for the same handoffs are in mortgage servicing and mortgage escrow accounts.

FAQ: How the mortgage market works

Here are answers to common questions about how the mortgage market works.

Why was my mortgage sold to another company?

Because selling loans is how the system is designed to work, not a sign anything went wrong. Most originators sell within weeks of closing so the same capital can fund the next borrower, and servicing rights trade separately from ownership. Your rate, balance, term and escrow stay the same; only the company you pay changes.

What is the difference between the primary and secondary mortgage market?

The primary market is where you get a loan; the secondary market is where that loan is bought and sold afterward. In the primary market a lender or broker takes your application, underwrites it and funds it at closing. In the secondary market it is purchased, often pooled into a mortgage-backed security, and sold to investors who collect the payments. Pricing in the first is set by the second, as our Mortgage Rates & Market guide explains.

Do Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac make mortgage loans?

No. FHFA states plainly that neither enterprise originates loans; they buy mortgages from lenders and either hold them or package them into securities. Congress chartered Fannie Mae in 1938 and Freddie Mac in 1970, and both have been in FHFA conservatorship since September 6, 2008. Their limits still shape what your lender can approve, as our Housing Market Trends hub shows.

Does the Federal Reserve set mortgage rates?

No. The Fed’s committee targets the federal funds rate, an overnight bank-to-bank rate, across eight scheduled meetings a year. Thirty-year mortgage rates track long-term yields instead, principally the 10-year Treasury plus the spread investors require to hold mortgage-backed securities. That spread has averaged about 1.76 percentage points since 1971 but varies by decade, which is why Fed decisions and mortgage quotes often move differently. Our guide to the Federal Reserve and Mortgage Rates traces it.

How do I find out who owns my mortgage?

Watch for a written notice. When a loan is sold or assigned, 12 CFR 1026.39 requires the new owner to mail or deliver one on or before the 30th calendar day after the transfer, with its name, address and telephone number. For a loan registered with MERS, the MERS ServicerID search identifies the servicer by the 18-digit Mortgage Identification Number, the property address and borrower details, or an FHA, VA or MI certificate number.

Why is my quote different from Freddie Mac’s weekly average rate?

Because the average covers a narrow, recent slice of loans. Freddie Mac says each weekly figure averages rates offered from the prior Thursday through Wednesday on purchase loans for owner-occupied, one-unit single-family homes, and that it cannot report average fees and points because lenders are not always required to provide them. A real quote carries its own points, credits, property type and lock date, so match those before comparing.

What is a higher-priced mortgage loan?

It is a first-lien loan on your principal home whose APR exceeds the average prime offer rate by 1.5 or more percentage points within Freddie Mac’s maximum loan size, or by 2.5 or more above it (jumbo territory), per 12 CFR 1026.35. The lender generally must set up an escrow account for taxes and required insurance, and it cannot be cancelled at your request until five years after closing and a balance under 80% of the original value.

What is the average prime offer rate?

It is a benchmark APR that Regulation Z defines as derived from average interest rates, points and other loan pricing terms currently offered by a representative sample of creditors on mortgages with low-risk pricing characteristics. The CFPB publishes the figures in a table updated at least weekly, along with its method. Lenders compare a loan’s APR with the matching figure on the day the rate is set.

Does the VA lend money for home loans?

In one program. VA’s home loan page lists one direct loan, the Native American Direct Loan, and three VA-backed loans: the purchase loan, the interest rate reduction refinance loan and the cash-out refinance loan. VA adds that borrowers still need the required credit and income. The program rules for the backed loans are in our VA loans guide. Align Lending is a private broker, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The bottom line on how the mortgage market works

The mortgage market has two halves: a primary market where lenders originate loans and a secondary market where those loans are pooled, guaranteed and sold. Roughly 64% of the $14.82 trillion in U.S. one-to-four-family mortgage debt outstanding in the first quarter of 2026 sat with the government-sponsored enterprises or in agency-backed pools rather than with the original lender. That structure is why guidelines feel standardized, why the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 matters to your pricing, why your loan can be sold without your terms changing, and why your rate follows the bond market.

If you’re ready to see how your file prices across the lenders that feed this market, talk to Align Lending. We’ll shop your scenario across our lender network and show you the numbers side by side. Call 248-506-5727 or start online.

Footnotes:

1. Example loan amounts are hypothetical and for educational purposes only; they do not constitute an advertisement of credit terms or a rate quote under federal or state lending laws. Your rate, terms and eligibility depend on your application, the property and market conditions. Conforming loan limit values are set annually by FHFA and vary by county and unit count. Return to text.

2. Shares are calculated from the Federal Reserve’s Financial Accounts of the United States, table F4.5a.s, one-to-four-family residential mortgages, amounts outstanding at the end of 2026:Q1. The “government-sponsored enterprises” category reflects mortgages held on the enterprises’ balance sheets, including loans backing their guaranteed securities; “agency- and GSE-backed mortgage pools” is a separate category covering remaining agency pool holdings. The Federal Reserve reports the two separately; they are combined here only to describe the agency channel as a whole. Return to text.

3. Spread figures are Align Lending’s own calculation, not a published index. We paired each weekly observation of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey 30-year fixed average (FRED series MORTGAGE30US) with the most recent 10-year Treasury constant-maturity yield on or before that date (FRED series DGS10), producing 2,892 weekly observations from April 2, 1971 through August 27, 2026. Mean spread 1.76 percentage points, median 1.67. Decade means: 1.34 (1970s), 2.12 (1980s), 1.45 (1990s), 1.83 (2000s), 1.69 (2010s), 2.26 (2020s through August 2026). Historical averages describe the past and do not predict future rates or spreads. Return to text.

Sources: one-to-four-family residential mortgage debt outstanding of $14,818.2 billion, household-sector share of $13,821.0 billion, and the holder breakdown by sector, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1), table F4.5a.s, first quarter 2026, released June 11, 2026. Agency mortgage-backed securities held outright of $1,913,585 million as of Wednesday, August 26, 2026, and the $189,261 million year-over-year decline, Federal Reserve statistical release H.4.1, released August 27, 2026, which notes those securities are guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. 2026 baseline conforming loan limit of $832,750 for one-unit properties, 2025 baseline of $806,500, high-cost ceiling of $1,249,125, and the 3.26% house price increase between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025, Federal Housing Finance Agency news release, November 25, 2025; Michigan values for all 83 counties ($832,750 / $1,066,250 / $1,288,800 / $1,601,750), FHFA full county loan limit list for calendar year 2026. Fannie Mae chartered 1938 and Freddie Mac 1970, the statement that neither originates loans, and conservatorship beginning September 6, 2008 under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Federal Housing Finance Agency. Ginnie Mae guaranty of timely payment of principal and interest, the pledge of the full faith and credit of the United States, and eligible loan programs, 12 U.S.C. 1721(g). Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure timing, 12 CFR 1026.19(e) and (f); APR definition and accuracy tolerances, 12 CFR 1026.22(a); ability-to-repay requirements, 12 CFR 1026.43; removal of the 43% debt-to-income limit from the General QM definition in favor of price-based thresholds, CFPB General QM Final Rule issued December 10, 2020. Servicing transfer notice timing and the 60-day late-fee protection, 12 CFR 1024.33(b) and (c); servicer versus lender definitions, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Ask CFPB. Primary Mortgage Market Survey methodology, Thursday noon Eastern publication and April 1971 start date, Freddie Mac. FHFA House Price Index methodology (repeat sales on mortgages purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac since January 1975), latest reading for the second quarter of 2026 and next quarterly release scheduled November 24, 2026, Federal Housing Finance Agency. MI Home Loan eligibility, $566,355 statewide sales price limit after June 1, 2026, 640 minimum credit score, and MI 10K DPA terms of up to $10,000 as an interest-free, no-monthly-payment deferred loan, Michigan State Housing Development Authority, retrieved August 31, 2026.

This article explains the structure of the U.S. mortgage market and is for informational purposes only. It is not a rate quote, a commitment to lend, or a forecast of future interest rates, home prices or market conditions. Program rules, loan limits and agency guidelines change; verify current figures with the issuing agency before relying on them. Align Lending is an independent Michigan mortgage broker, NMLS #2041154.

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