Vice Capital Markets releases daily mortgage rate benchmark

Vice Capital Markets has publicly released its Vice Capital Par Note Rate, a proprietary daily mortgage rate benchmark built from agency mortgage-backed security (MBS) prices that’s designed to give lenders and analysts a secondary market view of mortgage pricing.

The benchmark, available through an online tracker, provides daily data, long-term trend analysis and custom charting with history back to 2008, the company said in its announcement on Thursday.

Calculated each business day using Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS prices across the coupon stack, plus standard base guaranty fees and servicing, the Vice Capital Par Note Rate reflects the note rate at which a 30-year fixed-rate loan could be sold at par into the agency market while retaining servicing.

Unlike rate measures based on locked loans or consumer offers, the Vice Capital benchmark is grounded in secondary market execution rather than borrower-specific pricing, such as discount points, lender credits or loan-level price adjustments.

“Mortgage rate metrics can serve different purposes depending on what users are trying to measure,” said Chris Bennett, chairman of Vice Capital Markets. “Many widely followed figures provide valuable insight into borrower activity and market sentiment. The Vice Capital Par Note Rate is designed to complement those views by offering a consistent, market-based benchmark for analyzing mortgage rate movement over time.”

Vice Capital has used the par note rate internally in its hedge models for decades. By making the data public, the firm aims to support more transparent and granular analysis of mortgage rate movements across the industry.

Through the online tracker, users can review daily weighted averages, analyze long-term trends and create custom charts across historical periods, the company said.

“By making this data publicly available, we’re giving the industry another lens through which to evaluate mortgage rate movement,” said Troy Baars, president at Vice Capital Markets. “We believe the Vice Capital Par Note Rate will serve as a valuable benchmark for lenders, analysts and other market participants seeking deeper insight into market trends over time.”

The launch comes as rate volatility, potential shifts in Federal Reserve policy and uncertain loan volumes continue to pressure gain-on-sale margins.

Founded in 2001, Vice Capital Markets is a mortgage hedge advisory firm serving independent mortgage banks, banks and credit unions nationwide. It has managed interest rate risk and execution on more than $1 trillion in MBS trades and mortgage-related transactions.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.