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