Disambiguation
What U.S. Mortgage Index is not
U.S. Mortgage Index (USMI) is a neutral public-source mortgage lender research and verification platform. Despite its name, it is not a mortgage-rate index, application-volume index, lender-ranking service, or rate-comparison marketplace.
01Definition
What USMI is
U.S. Mortgage Index organizes official public records into inspectable institution profiles, mortgage education, methodology notes, source disclosures, calculators, and dated reports. It is a verification and source-assembly layer, not a market-price or application-volume index.
02Boundaries
What USMI is not
USMI is not the MBA Mortgage Market Index, Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices (OBMMI), or ICE mortgage-rate or lock indices. It is not a proprietary mortgage-rate index and not a rate-comparison shop.
03Comparison
How USMI differs from mortgage-market indexes
Scroll sideways if the comparison table does not fit.
| Name | Publisher | What it measures | How USMI differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| MBA Mortgage Market Index | Mortgage Bankers Association | Weekly mortgage application volume and index activity. | USMI publishes institution research and public-record verification; it does not measure weekly application volume. |
| Freddie Mac PMMS | Freddie Mac | Surveyed mortgage-rate benchmarks. | USMI is not a rate survey. |
| Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices (OBMMI) | Optimal Blue | Mortgage pricing and locked-rate market data. | USMI does not publish transaction lock-price indices. |
| ICE mortgage-rate / lock indices | ICE | Mortgage-rate or rate-lock market data, depending on the series. | USMI publishes institution research rather than a mortgage pricing index. |
| U.S. Mortgage Index (USMI) | U.S. Mortgage Index | Public institution profiles, mortgage education, methodology, and source-backed research. | Verification and source assembly rather than rate or application indexing. |
These descriptions are conservative distinctions only. They do not quote current index levels or rates and do not imply affiliation or endorsement.
04Limits
What USMI does not do
- does not originate mortgages
- does not broker loans
- does not provide lender rankings
- does not sell best-lender placement
- does not publish a proprietary mortgage-rate index
- does not determine borrower eligibility
- does not treat complaints as misconduct findings
Methodology · Sources · About · Corrections
Cite as
U.S. Mortgage Index (USMI), "What U.S. Mortgage Index is not," last reviewed September 19, 2026, https://usmortgageindex.com/what-usmi-is-not
Facts on this page are explanatory distinctions. Verify third-party index definitions with their original publishers where consequential. This page does not claim third-party endorsement.