The recent snowstorms that disrupted the nation are being blamed for hampering mortgage application activity during the week ending Jan. 30.
“Winter Storm Fern likely had an impact as much of the country was snowed in, hampering homebuying activity,” said Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 8.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index was up by 4% compared with the previous week.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 14% from one week earlier while the unadjusted index inched up by 2% compared with the previous week – the latter was also 4% higher than the same week one year ago.
The Refinance Index decreased 5% from the previous week and was 117% higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 57.1% of total applications from 56.2% the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 17.8% from 18.6% the week prior while the VA share of total applications increased to 15.8% from 14.7% and the USDA share of total applications dipped to 0.4% from 0.5% the week prior.
“The annual increase in purchase applications was the weakest since April 2025,” added Kan. “Refinance activity also decreased over the week, despite mortgage rates moving lower. The 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.21% last week, a slight decline, but not significant enough to incentivize more borrowers to refinance. Additionally, this week’s results are being compared to the week that included the MLK Jr. holiday.”
