How Mortgage Rates Are Actually Set
The chain from Treasury yields to mortgage-backed securities to the rate you are quoted, why the Fed does not set mortgage rates, an…
Marcus Hale
Markets & Data Editor · Former MBS research analyst
Marcus builds the housing and rate models behind our market coverage. He previously worked in mortgage-backed securities research and is unreasonably attached to well-labeled charts.
Housing dataInterest ratesEconomics
Articles by Marcus (6)
Mortgage Learning
Housing Market
How to Read Housing Data Without Being Misled
Which housing indicators matter, how each is constructed, revision behavior, seasonal adjustment, and the difference between median …
Housing Market
How Interest Rates Move Housing
The payment mechanics of rate changes, the lock-in effect, rates versus prices, and why rate cuts do not always help affordability.
Housing Market
The Economic Reports That Move Housing
A calendar of the data releases that actually affect housing and mortgage rates, what each measures, when it publishes, and how it g…
Housing Market
Rent or Buy? A Framework That Survives Changing Rates
Why the answer depends on your horizon and transaction costs more than on any headline rate.
Housing Market
The Lock-In Effect and Why Inventory Stayed Tight
How a large stock of below-market mortgages reshaped housing supply.