WASHINGTON,D.C. — January 15, 2026 —Polygon Research, a Washington, D.C.-based data and analytics firm focused on housing finance, has released a January 2026 update to its Non-Qualified Mortgage (Non-QM) methodology, expanding loan-level analysis of Non-QM activity across seven years of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Loan/Application Register data within its HMDAVision® platform.
The Non-QM market is frequently referenced in industry and capital markets analysis, yet HMDA does not include a standardized Non-QM indicator. As a result, market estimates are often derived from securitization data, lender classifications, or inferred assumptions, which may not capture the full scope of primary market activity.
“This update allows users to work directly with loan-level HMDA records to better understand how Non-QM lending appears across borrowers, products, and geographies,” said Val Buresch, CMB, Founder and CEO of Polygon Research.
Polygon Research’s updated methodology leverages post-2018 HMDA fields to classify loans as Qualified Mortgage (QM), Non-QM, or out of scope for analytical purposes. Loans are evaluated against year-specific Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage standards, with purchaser information incorporated to improve visibility into Non-QM lending trends across products, pricing, borrower characteristics, and geography.
The January 2026 update includes refinements to the treatment of purchaser type, including clearer identification of loans sold to private securitizers and updated logic for loans reported as sold to “Other” purchasers.
The methodology is intended for market research and analytical use and does not replace legal or compliance determinations.
The full Non-QM methodology is publicly documented at: https://insights.polygonresearch.com/non-qm-market-definition
About Polygon Research
Polygon Research is a Washington, D.C.-based data and analytics firm focused on housing finance. The firm specializes in loan-level analysis of public datasets, including HMDA, Census, FHA, and agency mortgage-backed securities data, to support market research, competitive analysis, fair lending oversight, and policy evaluation.
More information about Polygon Research is available at https://www.polygonresearch.com
Media Contact
Val Buresch, CMB
Founder & CEO, Polygon Research
lburesch@polygonresearch.com
+1 (202) 844-2720
How is the Non-QM market defined? An updated loan-level perspective.
WASHINGTON,D.C. — January 15, 2026 —Polygon Research, a Washington, D.C.-based data and analytics firm focused on housing finance, has released a January 2026 update to its Non-Qualified Mortgage (Non-QM) methodology, expanding loan-level analysis of Non-QM activity across seven years of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Loan/Application Register data within its HMDAVision® platform.
The Non-QM market is frequently referenced in industry and capital markets analysis, yet HMDA does not include a standardized Non-QM indicator. As a result, market estimates are often derived from securitization data, lender classifications, or inferred assumptions, which may not capture the full scope of primary market activity.
“This update allows users to work directly with loan-level HMDA records to better understand how Non-QM lending appears across borrowers, products, and geographies,” said Val Buresch, CMB, Founder and CEO of Polygon Research.
Polygon Research’s updated methodology leverages post-2018 HMDA fields to classify loans as Qualified Mortgage (QM), Non-QM, or out of scope for analytical purposes. Loans are evaluated against year-specific Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage standards, with purchaser information incorporated to improve visibility into Non-QM lending trends across products, pricing, borrower characteristics, and geography.
The January 2026 update includes refinements to the treatment of purchaser type, including clearer identification of loans sold to private securitizers and updated logic for loans reported as sold to “Other” purchasers.
The methodology is intended for market research and analytical use and does not replace legal or compliance determinations.
The full Non-QM methodology is publicly documented at: https://insights.polygonresearch.com/non-qm-market-definition
About Polygon Research
Polygon Research is a Washington, D.C.-based data and analytics firm focused on housing finance. The firm specializes in loan-level analysis of public datasets, including HMDA, Census, FHA, and agency mortgage-backed securities data, to support market research, competitive analysis, fair lending oversight, and policy evaluation.
More information about Polygon Research is available at https://www.polygonresearch.com
Media Contact
Val Buresch, CMB
Founder & CEO, Polygon Research
lburesch@polygonresearch.com
+1 (202) 844-2720
Polygon Research uses post-2018 HMDA fields to evaluate each loan record against year-specific Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage standards, classifying it as QM, Non-QM, or out of scope. Purchaser information is incorporated to improve visibility into secondary market execution. The methodology is publicly documented and covers seven consecutive years of HMDA Loan/Application Register data, making it possible to analyze Non-QM trends across borrowers, products, pricing, and geography at the loan level.
Polygon Research uses post-2018 HMDA fields to evaluate each loan record against year-specific Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage standards, classifying it as QM, Non-QM, or out of scope. Purchaser information is incorporated to improve visibility into secondary market execution. The methodology is publicly documented and covers seven consecutive years of HMDA Loan/Application Register data, making it possible to analyze Non-QM trends across borrowers, products, pricing, and geography at the loan level.
The update refined the treatment of purchaser type specifically, clearer identification of loans sold to private securitizers and updated logic for loans reported under the 'Other' purchaser category. These refinements improve the accuracy of Non-QM identification for loans whose secondary market disposition was previously ambiguous, resulting in a more complete view of where Non-QM originations actually end up after closing.
No. The methodology is designed for market research and analytical use understanding volume, trends, geographic distribution, and borrower characteristics. It does not replace legal or compliance determinations. Whether a specific loan qualifies or fails to qualify as a Qualified Mortgage under applicable law requires a legal analysis of the actual loan terms and applicable regulations, not a data classification derived from reported HMDA fields.