With more than half of homeowners planning to stay put, it is more critical than ever for servicers to build strong relationships with borrowers

The outlook for the U.S. mortgage market in 2026 balances ongoing challenges around historically high home prices, rising insurance costs and still-elevated interest rates. These conditions emphasize the importance of servicers delivering an elevated, personalized experience for borrowers as recapture and retention remain the best avenue for new business. With 62% of homeowners responding that they have no plans to sell their home any time soon, servicers must be in tune to borrower preferences around communication, digital tools and the importance of human connection to capitalize on opportunities like refinancing and home equity.

To better understand what today's borrowers are looking for, ICE conducts a yearly Borrower Insights Survey. The results from the 2026 study make it clear that borrowers want to feel known, heard and assisted on their own terms. Servicers who invest in personalized, multi-channel engagement and use digital tools to proactively uncover opportunities will be best positioned to build lasting borrower relationships in a competitive market.

Trust begins with communication, and the 2026 Borrower Insights Survey shows that most borrowers are still broadly satisfied with communications from their servicer. However, servicers should take note of the data on one meaningful decline. While 85% of borrowers say they are satisfied with the level of communication from their mortgage servicer, the share who are definitely satisfied dropped from 55% in 2024 to 45% in 2025. That 10-point drop is a meaningful signal that servicers cannot afford to ignore.

Second, awareness is also slipping. Just 67% of borrowers say they confidently know the name of the company that services their mortgage, down from nearly 75% the year before. For servicers, staying top-of-mind with customers is not just a branding exercise. This awareness is essential to the ability to successfully engage them when relevant opportunities arise.

The 2026 survey also reinforces that personalized communication is not optional, with 96% of borrowers say it is at least slightly important to receive personalized communication from their mortgage lender. Servicers who only communicate generally risk losing ground to competitors who do use data to make interactions feel relevant and timely.

With the proliferation of connected devices and digital experiences in daily life, plus the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, it would be easy for servicers to assume they should focus communication efforts solely in those areas. The reality is more nuanced.

Phone remains the dominant preference for borrowers who have a question about their mortgage, with 60% saying they would most prefer to call customer service. Email is the second choice at 40%. But as with last year's survey, those preferences shift meaningfully across generations.

For example, younger borrowers are considerably more likely to gravitate toward digital channels. More than half of Gen Z borrowers prefer to communicate with their servicer via online chat. However, it is important to note that online chat with a human agent (28% overall) is twice as popular as engaging with a chatbot (14%). One of the primary reasons borrowers are less interested in speaking with a chatbot comes down to expected responses: 50% are worried that a chatbot might provide generic or inaccurate answers. Buying a home is the biggest purchase most borrowers will make in their life, and they want a personalized experience when paying it off.

These findings illustrate that what technology is utilized and how it is deployed are critical decisions for servicers. Borrowers want the convenience of digital channels, but they also want the personalized service that has thus far only been provided through human interaction.

Beyond customer service interactions, mortgage servicing apps have become an increasingly important touchpoint for borrowers who want to stay on top of their loans. The 2026 survey found that the majority of borrowers use their apps to check mortgage payments (65%), outstanding balance (53%), and escrow amounts (44%), reinforcing the importance of delivering a clean, reliable experience for finding basic information.

But the data shows there is an opportunity to move beyond the basics and go further. One in four (24%) Gen Z borrowers use the mortgage app to explore ways to use their home equity and 15% of borrowers who went through the loan process in the last one to two years are actively using the app to search for a new home. These behaviors point to digitally savvy borrowers who are engaged with their financial lives and looking for tools that help them take the next step, whether that is tapping equity for a home improvement project, refinancing into a lower rate or beginning the search for their next property.

Servicers who design their digital experience around these broader aspirations instead of only payment processing are more likely to deepen borrower relationships over time and capture more of the lending opportunities that will emerge as interest rates ease.

The 2026 Borrower Insights Survey paints a picture of a borrower population that is engaged, increasingly digital and willing to look for a new lender the next time they are house shopping if their expectations aren't met. Nearly three-quarters of borrowers are not certain they will use their current lender for their next mortgage, up from 68% in 2024.

ICE is helping servicers respond to these challenges with integrated, data-driven solutions that power personalized borrower communication at scale. ICE Servicing Digital helps servicers deliver the kind of experience that turns a transactional relationship into a lifelong one. For the growing share of borrowers who want more than a payment portal, Servicing Digital delivers personalized refinance scenarios and current rates, as well as alerts customers about their tappable equity. Through its integration with the MSP® mortgage servicing software, it offers benefits for both sides, satisfying the expectations of digitally savvy customers focused on maximizing their home ownership journeys and delivering critically important opportunities for servicers to garner repeat business from existing borrowers, instead of losing them to competitors.

Download the 2026 Borrower Insights Survey to learn more about what today's borrowers expect and how your organization can rise to meet those expectations.