The seasonally adjusted purchase index fell 14% from a week earlier, while the unadjusted purchase index rose 2% from the week before and was 4% higher than the same week a year ago.
“Registrations fell last week, reflecting a 14% decline in purchase applications. Winter Storm Fern likely had an impact because much of the country was snowbound, hampering homebuying activity,” said Joel Kan, MBA vice president and deputy chief economist.
“The annual increase in purchase applications was the weakest since April 2025. Refinancing activity also fell during the week, even as mortgage rates fell. The 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.21% last week, a slight decline but not significant enough to encourage more borrowers to refinance. Additionally, this week’s results are compared to the week that included the MLK Jr. holiday.”
The refinance index fell 5% from the previous week and was 117% higher than the same week a year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity rose to 57.1% of total applications, up from 56.2% the previous week.
The activity share of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) fell to 7.5% of total applications. The Federal Housing Administration The (FHA) share of total applications fell to 17.8%, compared to 18.6% the week before. The The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) share rose to 15.8% from 14.7% during the week, while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) share fell from 0.5% to 0.4%.
The average contract rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with a conforming loan balance ($832,750 or less) fell 3 basis points to 6.21%, while the rate for large loans (greater than $832,750) fell 2 basis points to 6.32%.
The average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA fell from 6.06% to 6.04% and rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell from 5.64% to 5.61%. The average rate for 5/1 ARMs fell 19 basis points to 5.37%.
Xactus Mortgage Intent Index
Starting this week, HousingWire‘s report on mortgage applications contains data from the Thrown Mortgage Intent Index, which analyzes aggregated, anonymized lending activity on the Xactus Intelligent Verification Platform. The platform is responsible for nearly a third of all loan applications nationwide and serves as a forward-looking indicator for the mortgage market.
The index found borrower intent fell last week after a strong start to 2026, reversing gains from earlier this month.
Nationally, borrower intent fell 3.76% from the previous week and 4.19% from the same week a year earlier.
“Overall, intent grew year-over-year for the month of January, up 5.26% from January 2025,” said Thomas Lloyd, Chief Strategy Officer of Xactus.
Xactus also cited the winter storm as a factor, with the New England, Middle East, Southeast and Southwest regions seeing week-over-week declines of 4.18%, 8.57%, 5.35% and 5.58%, respectively. Each of these regions underperformed the national average decline of 3.76%.
Regions less affected by the storm outperformed the broader market as expected. Lending intent in the Far West rose 7.65% from the previous week, while the Rocky Mountain region posted a 2.9% increase.
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