SAN DIEGO, CA – August 11, 2026 – Mortgage Capital Trading, Inc. (MCT®), the de facto leader in innovative mortgage capital markets technology, announced the launch of its Live Mortgage Rate Lock Index today. The index provides an industry-first benchmark between rates buyers are financing through homebuilders vs. non-builders, revealing a gap that standard indices blur into a single figure.
“Isolating builder-affiliated locks shows a spread that headline rate averages tend to smooth over and that spread is where you can see buydown activity at work,” explains Paul Yarbrough, Senior Director, Head of Data & Analytics at MCT.
Most rate figures in the headlines come from a weekly survey and are published as a single week-over-week average the following day. MCT’s Rate Lock Index is calculated from the weighted average of borrower note rate locks submitted through MCTlive!®, and updated throughout the business day as new locks are recorded.
“Because the reading is built from real production as it happens, it reflects genuine rate movement in close to real time rather than a snapshot averaged and released after the day or week has closed,” says Yarbrough.
The data behind the indices comes from actual locks, not applications, quotes, surveys, or models. It reflects lock activity from independent mortgage banks, banks, and credit unions originating a combined average of $9.4 billion in monthly volume across all 50 states, spanning retail, wholesale, correspondent, and consumer-direct channels. That national footprint, diverse in lender size, product mix, and business model, is what lets the index stand in for the market as a whole rather than any single lender or region.
The MCT Rate Lock Index breaks out 30-year conventional and FHA purchase loans for owner-occupied properties, reports builder and non-builder series separately, and shows the spread between them. Values update throughout each business day and are finalized at the close of business, with trend charts and high and low ranges computed from completed days only.
“MCT indices are a free service to the industry and the public. Any originator, lender, or publisher can embed a live, always-current widget on their own site in a few minutes. We think a live benchmark drawn from real locks should be available to the whole market,” says Yarbrough.
MCT’s Live Mortgage Rate Lock Index is available now, and a live Lock Volume Index is expected to follow soon. Request a demo of Lender Analytics Advanced To put MCT’s secondary market data to work in your own pricing decisions.
* Index values are provided for informational purposes only and are not a rate quote, an offer to extend credit, or investment, pricing, or hedging advice; values reflect market-wide averages and may not correspond to the pricing available on any individual loan.
ABOUT MCT
For over two decades, MCT has been a leading source of innovation for the mortgage secondary market. Melding deep subject matter expertise with a passion for emerging technologies and clients, MCT is the de facto leader in innovative mortgage capital markets technology. From architecting modern best execution loan sales to launching the most successful and advanced marketplace for mortgage-related assets, lenders, investors, and network partners all benefit from MCT’s stewardship. MCT’s technology and know-how continue to revolutionize how mortgage assets are priced, locked, hedged, traded, and valued – offering clients the tools to perform under any market condition.
For more information, visit https://mct-trading.com/ or call (619) 543-5111.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ian Miller
Chief Marketing Officer
Mortgage Capital Trading
619-618-7855
pr@mctrade.net
