Mortgage rates hit their highest level since 2023

Plus: ICE launches residential whole loan evaluations service

September 30, 2026

🏁 Last day of the month! Today’s newsletter is 732 words, a 2.5-minute read.

Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of September 29, 2026. © MND Daily Rate Index.

1. ICE launches residential whole loan evaluations service

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has launched ICE Residential Whole Loan Evaluations, a new service that provides model-driven pricing for individual, unsecuritized residential mortgages. The service covers qualified mortgages, non-QMs and specialty loans.

The pricing process combines loan-level data from clients with ICE’s mortgage analytics, including its prepayment and credit model, home price data across 28,000 ZIP codes and origination data updated daily from more than 3,000 lenders. ICE said the data helps estimate current loan-to-value ratios and calibrate pricing inputs.

Evaluations can be calculated daily or monthly and delivered through the ICE Data API. The service is aimed at institutions involved in the purchase, sale and valuation of whole loans, giving them a standardized pricing source for the growing residential whole-loan market.

2. FHFA puts FICO and VantageScore on one pricing grid

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will use a single loan-level price adjustment grid for mortgages scored with either Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0, FHFA Director Bill Pulte announced Monday. The change eliminates the 20-point pricing adjustment previously applied to VantageScore.

Classic FICO will remain available and is still required for manually underwritten loans. FICO 10T has not yet been approved for GSE delivery, while FHA plans to adopt the model for underwriting in January 2027.

UWM says about 25% of borrowers are currently seeing a more favorable credit result with VantageScore. Rocket Mortgage found that some borrowers qualified for better pricing after testing 1.4 million credit reports, with those receiving savings saving an average of $1,600 at closing.

📰 Related news: Rocket makes VantageScore 4.0 its default credit model. (NMP)

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3. More Nuggets

🚀 Elio Mortgage launches with $5.1M preseed funding. (FinTechGlobal)

⚠️ The promise and risks of AI in mortgage lending. (HousingWire)

🏠 New homes still cost less than resales in many markets. (Zillow)

🎓 Student loan borrowers have until Dec. 31 to claim a discount. (EducationDept)

📈 Serious mortgage delinquencies rose 19% in August. (ICE)

4. Mortgage rates hit highest level since 2023

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 7.30%, its highest level since November 2023, marking a sixth consecutive week of increases, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Total mortgage applications fell 6% as higher borrowing costs pushed more borrowers to the sidelines.

  • Purchase applications dropped 4% week over week and 14% from a year ago, while refinance applications fell 9% and were 56% below last year’s level.

  • ARMs accounted for 10.3% of applications, the highest share since October 2025.

Higher rates are also putting pressure on sellers, with 20.8% of listings recording price cuts nationwide, up 0.9 percentage points from a year earlier. Rates continued climbing into the new week, reaching 7.58% Tuesday, according to Mortgage News Daily data cited by CNBC.

5. Eleven Mortgage exits wholesale lending

Eleven Mortgage has exited wholesale and correspondent lending, ending its eight-year run in the third-party origination market. Parent company Benchmark Mortgage said it will redirect resources toward its retail business, but did not disclose how many employees or loans are affected. Both companies operate under Ark-La-Tex Financial Services LLC.

The move comes as the broader organization’s producing workforce fell 32% over the past year, from 245 to 167, according to Modex. It also follows months of growth-focused recruiting at Eleven, including hiring for wholesale underwriting roles earlier this year.

“Our decision to exit the wholesale and correspondent mortgage division was deliberate and strategic,” Benchmark CEO Norman Koenigsberg said. “It allows us to simplify our business, sharpen our focus, and align our resources around the areas where we believe we have the greatest opportunity — our retail business, and most importantly, our people.”

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

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