Business Wire·Nov 9, 2026, 9:00 AM ET

ICE Mortgage Monitor: 2.4 Million Mortgage Holders Are Equity Millionaires as Q3 Home Equity Hits Record High

Intercontinental Exchange released the November 2026 ICE Mortgage Monitor Report highlighting record third-quarter highs for home equity & the number of equity millionaires.
Mortgage holders collectively held $17.5 trillion in equity in Q3, up 1.4% year over year, with tappable equity rising 1.2% to an average of $204,000 per borrower.
The number of equity millionaires reached a record 2.4 million in Q3, up 6% year over year, while nearly 9 million borrowers held $500,000 or more.
California accounted for 49% of the nation's equity millionaires, followed by New York, New Jersey, & Florida.
Rising interest rates drove a shift toward cash-out refinances, which now account for 75% of refinance portfolio attrition.
Servicer retention for refinancing borrowers declined to 27% in Q3, down four percentage points from the prior quarter, while rate-and-term retention fell nine points to 30%.
Cash-out retention remained at 26%, with servicers retaining only 15% of cash-out borrowers who held loans from 2019 or earlier.
Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) accounted for over 10% of early October rate locks as 30-year fixed rates exceeded 7% & spreads widened to over 100 basis points.
Cash-out transactions represented 1 in 7 rate locks in recent weeks, while purchase loans accounted for roughly 80% of rate locks.
ICE experts noted that traditional rate-based retention strategies are ineffective for borrowers motivated by equity access, urging servicers to utilize advanced analytics for engagement.