Mortgage rates drop to the lowest level in over a year

Plus: PartnerOne to acquire Mortgage Cadence

October 29, 2025

🐫 Welcome back. Today’s newsletter is 742 words, a 2.5-minute read. Lets dive in…

Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of October 28, 2025. © MND Daily Rate Index.

1. Mortgage rates drop to the lowest level in over a year, pushing refinancing 111% higher annually

Mortgage interest rates dropped for the fourth straight week last week, spurring both current homeowners and potential homebuyers to call their lenders.

  • Total mortgage application volume increased 7.1% compared with the previous week, according to the MBA’s seasonally adjusted index.

  • The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.30% from 6.37%.

  • Refinance demand jumped 9% for the week and was 111% higher than the same week one year ago.

  • Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home rose 5% for the week and were 20% higher than the same week one year ago.

“This recent decline in rates spurred the second consecutive week of increased refinance activity, driven mainly by conventional refinance applications,” said Joel Kan, an economist at the MBA. “The ARM share of applications, which had been trending higher, dipped below 10% last week, as lower rates prompted more borrowers to choose fixed rate loans.”

2. PartnerOne to acquire Mortgage Cadence

PartnerOne has agreed to acquire Mortgage Cadence, Accenture’s cloud-based digital lending platform, in a deal aimed at expanding PartnerOne’s financial software portfolio. Terms were not disclosed.

The acquisition will give PartnerOne control of Mortgage Cadence’s Enterprise and Essentials products, which streamline loan origination and reduce operational costs. Mortgage Cadence CEO Pedro Garcia said the deal reflects “a powerful alignment of values and vision,” adding that PartnerOne’s investment approach will “enable us to evolve our platform and deepen customer relationships.”

PartnerOne Vice President Suzanne Fortman said the firm plans to invest in Mortgage Cadence’s workforce and technology to “accelerate innovation in mortgage technology.” The acquisition remains subject to customary closing conditions.

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3. More Nuggets

📉 Lowest rates in a year. Tomorrow's Fed announcement could push them in either direction. (MND)

🏡 A real estate platform for homes that aren’t for sale. (Unlisted)

🏦 Huntington to buy Cadence Bank for $7.4B. (BankingDive)

📊 ACSI survey ranks Rocket Mortgage top lender. (NMP)

👋 Popular Bank is waving goodbye to the mortgage business. (HousingWire)

4. TCPA class action targets Swift Home Loans over alleged spam calls and texts

Swift Home Loans is facing a federal class action in Florida alleging it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending marketing texts to consumers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry. The complaint, filed Oct. 20, claims the Michigan lender used “trigger leads”—borrower data sold after credit inquiries—to target individuals with unsolicited offers for lower VA mortgage rates.

Plaintiff Melanee Packard says she received two such texts in July despite no prior dealings with the company. The suit alleges Swift misrepresented itself as affiliated with consumers’ existing lenders, part of what it describes as a “high-pressure business model” causing “confusion, annoyance, and harassment.”

“Swift is one of the country’s worst offenders when it comes to credit triggers,” one consumer said in a Reddit post cited in the complaint, adding that employees “pretend to be the original source of the credit pull.” The case seeks to represent all U.S. consumers who received similar texts or calls over the past four years.

5. FICO launches mortgage-specific ‘What-If’ credit simulator

FICO unveiled a new FICO Score Mortgage Simulator that lets lenders model how hypothetical borrower actions—such as debt payoff or credit use changes—could affect mortgage-specific credit scores. The company says it’s the only simulator built directly on FICO’s proprietary scoring algorithm.

“This integration connects directly to the credit scores that matter most in mortgage decisions,” said Shawn Jobe, vice president at Credit Interlink, which is distributing the tool. “No other simulator models real FICO Score behavior with such accuracy.”

Available through Credit Interlink and its partners, the tool allows lenders to provide “smarter credit strategy, faster decisions, and a better lending experience,” FICO executive Geoff Smith said. It comes as the FHFA moves to let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accept both FICO and VantageScore models for underwriting.

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Friday!

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