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| @thecltmortgageguy |
Vol 1 · Iss 22 · Aug 28, 2026 |
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| The Weekly |
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| THE WEEKLY WRAP |
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| Rates. Market intel. What it means for you. |
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| Welcome Back |
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| The Biggest Appraisal Overhaul in Years Is Here. |
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| If you have written a contract in the last few years, you know the appraisal is where plenty of deals live or die. The agencies behind most conventional loans are rolling out the biggest change to how appraisals work in years, and it touches turn times, appraisal waivers, and the paperwork your buyers see at closing. I am breaking all of it down in plain English this week so you can walk into your next listing appointment as the most prepared person in the room. |
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| Market Update |
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| Warsh Talked Tough, and Rates Pushed Higher. |
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| 30-yr Fixed |
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| 6.66% |
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| ↑ Up from 6.65% |
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| Rate Direction |
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| Up |
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| Warsh talks tough |
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| Rates spent last week under pressure, and the reason was supply. The government had a heavy slate of new debt to sell, and when the market has that much new debt to absorb, buyers demand higher yields to take it on, which pushes mortgage rates up. The mood improved as the new week opened. On Monday, word that the Treasury might use some of its cash on hand to buy back debt calmed nerves. Then on Tuesday, a regional manufacturing report came in far weaker than expected, and softer data tends to be good for rates, so mortgage bonds rallied and pricing improved. |
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| The middle of the week stayed quiet. On Wednesday, the inflation gauge the Fed watches most closely landed right in line with forecasts, nothing alarming either way. Thursday is where things turned. Two Fed officials, Jeff Schmid and Beth Hammack, made comments suggesting rates may not be high enough yet to fully tame inflation. That kind of talk pushes rates up, and mortgage bonds gave back a little of their midweek gains as the benchmark that mortgages track drifted higher. |
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| This morning delivered the answer, and it was not the one the market was hoping for. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh used his first major speech at the Jackson Hole gathering to push back on the idea that the inflation fight is won. He gave credit to the recent better readings but said a few good months are not proof the trend is heading back to the Fed's target, and he noted that inflation has now run above that target for more than five years straight. He also called the economy strong, which is the market's cue that he is in no hurry to cut and that another rate hike is still on the table. Mortgage bonds sold off on the news and rates pushed higher into the weekend. If you have a buyer floating a rate right now, this is a week to have the lock conversation. |
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| This Tuesday · Noon ET |
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| What the New Appraisal Rules Mean for Your Deals. |
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| Three changes stand out. First, appraisal waivers are expanding and getting a new name, which means more of your buyers can skip the full appraisal altogether. That takes the single biggest deal killer we all dread, the low appraisal, off the table on those files, and it shaves days off the timeline. Second, appraisers no longer have to physically drive to every comparable sale, so routine reports should come back faster. Third, the whole industry is moving to a brand new appraisal form, and there is a hard cutover date coming later this year. Once it hits, files built on the old format get rejected, so working with a lender who is ready for it matters more than usual. On Tuesday I will show you which buyers and properties benefit most, the deals that will not qualify for the shortcuts, and how to explain all of it to a client in one clean sentence. |
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| Drop in Tuesday at noon. No booking needed. Zoom link at linktr.ee/thecltmortgageguy. Bring your trickiest appraisal scenarios. Have a topic for a future call? Just reply to this email. |
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| See you Tuesday. For daily rate updates follow @thecltmortgageguy on Instagram. |
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| Book a consult or grab the Zoom link at linktr.ee/thecltmortgageguy. |
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| Ian Smith · VP of Lending · Rate · [email protected] · linktr.ee/thecltmortgageguy · @thecltmortgageguy · NMLS #1465241 · Equal Housing Lender |
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| © 2026 Guaranteed Rate, Inc. D/B/A Rate | NMLS ID 2611 |
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