March 2026 Mortgage Monitor
ICE Mortgage Monitor: Q4 Lending Climbs to 3.5-Year High as Refinance Activity Accelerates and Servicer Retention Strengthens
5.4 Million Homeowners ‘In the Money’ to Refinance After Mortgage Rates Fall Below 6%
ATLANTA & NEW YORK -- (March 9, 2026) – Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), one of the world's leading providers of financial market technology and data powering global capital markets, today released its March 2026 ICE Mortgage Monitor Report. According to the analysis, total mortgage originations reached an estimated 1.44 million in the fourth quarter — the largest quarterly tally since Q3 2022 — as a surge in refinance activity drove lending to its highest level in three and a half years and servicer retention climbed to an eight-year high.
“The fourth quarter marked a meaningful inflection point for mortgage market activity," said Andy Walden, Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research at ICE. "Refinances accounted for nearly 40% of Q4 lending and servicers retained one in three refinancing borrowers, the strongest overall retention rate since early 2014. Underpinning it all, February's dip in mortgage rates expanded the refinance-eligible population to 5.4 million borrowers, the largest pool we've seen since early 2022, further improving affordability, which is at its best level in nearly four years."
Key findings from the March Mortgage Monitor include:
- Refinance incentives surged while affordability held at multi-year highs
- Q4 lending reached 3.5-year high, driven by refinance activity
- Equity extraction remained strong, led by largest second lien volume in 18 years
- Property insurance costs hit another record high, though rate of growth slowed
- Servicer retention reached eight-year high
“The trends we’re observing underscore how quickly rate shifts can reshape borrower opportunity, lender volume and portfolio performance,” said Bob Hart, President of ICE Mortgage Technology. “As refinance incentives return and retention improves, mortgage organizations need technology that helps them identify opportunity faster, engage borrowers more effectively and execute efficiently across the lifecycle. ICE’s end-to-end mortgage platform is built to help clients respond to changing market conditions with greater speed, insight and precision.”
Further detail on property insurance, servicer retention, home price and mortgage origination trends — including charts — can be found in the full Mortgage Monitor report.
About Mortgage Monitor
ICE manages the nation’s leading repository of loan-level residential mortgage data and performance information covering the majority of the overall market. The ICE Home Price Index provides one of the most complete, accurate and timely measures of home prices available, covering 95% of U.S. residential properties down to the ZIP code level. In addition, the company maintains one of the most robust public property records databases available, covering 99.9% of the U.S. population and households from more than 3,100 counties.
ICE’s research experts carefully analyze this data to produce a summary supplemented by dozens of charts and graphs that reflect trend and point-in-time observations for the monthly Mortgage Monitor report. To review the full report, visit: https://mortgagetech.ice.com/resources/data-reports.
About Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company that designs, builds and operates digital networks that connect people to opportunity. We provide financial technology and data services across major asset classes helping our customers access mission-critical workflow tools that increase transparency and efficiency. ICE’s futures, equity, and options exchanges – including the New York Stock Exchange – and clearing houses help people invest, raise capital and manage risk. We offer some of the world’s largest markets to trade and clear energy and environmental products. Our fixed income, data services and execution capabilities provide information, analytics and platforms that help our customers streamline processes and capitalize on opportunities. At ICE Mortgage Technology, we are transforming U.S. housing finance, from initial consumer engagement through loan production, closing, registration and the long-term servicing relationship. Together, ICE transforms, streamlines and automates industries to connect our customers to opportunity.
Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located here. Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading “Key Information Documents (KIDS).”
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, as filed with the SEC on February 5, 2026.
Media Contacts
ICE Media Contact:
404.798.1155
ICE Investor Contact:
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Related resources
March 2026 Report
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