ICE Unveils Transaction-Based Indices For Residential Mortgage Interest Rates

The new indices will be calculated daily and will track the average interest rate of new residential home loan applications processed by ICE Mortgage Technology.

By using anonymized and aggregated data from ICE, the locked rate indices are calculated from actual loan applications. The company believes that this provides a more comprehensive, accurate, and timely reflection of current residential mortgage interest rates.

“Observable loan applications provide a wealth of information and can be important benchmarks for loan originators, banks, and participants in the mortgage-backed security market,” said Lynn Martin, president of Fixed Income and Data Services at ICE. “By using a data-driven approach and leveraging the unique strengths of ICE’s mortgage technology and data services teams, we’re bringing a tremendous amount of new data to the market that can offer customers both strategic intelligence and help them manage risk.”

The ICE U.S. Residential Mortgage Rate Lock Index Series tracks 10, 15, 20, and 30-year first-lien and subordinated mortgage applications on both single-family and multi-family properties. The indices include new purchase, construction, and refinance applications for conventional mortgage loans, jumbo loans, and those submitted under U.S. government programs, including the Federal Housing Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Rural Housing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The indices are calculated each business day and published the following morning.

In addition to the ICE U.S. Residential Mortgage Rate Lock Composite Index, ICE launched sub-indices focused on attributes including product type (Conforming or Jumbo 30-year fixed rate), loan purpose (purchase, construction or refinance), and borrower attributes (FICO score, LTV, among others).