Forces other than mortgage rates can impact homebuying activity, and this past week was a good example of that, as experts surmised that a big winter storm hitting a large portion of the country likely prevented people from applying for a mortgage.
According to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) report, the Market Composite Index—the measure of mortgage loan activity volume and includes purchases and refinances—decreased 8.9% from one week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Jan. 30, following last week’s 8.5% decrease for the week ending Jan. 23. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 4% compared with the previous week.
MBA’s seasonally adjusted Purchase Index (measuring purchases of single-family homes only) decreased 14% from one week earlier; its unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2% compared with the previous week and was 4% higher than the same week one year ago, according to this week’s report.
“Winter Storm Fern likely had an impact as much of the country was snowed in, hampering homebuying activity,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. “The annual increase in purchase applications was the weakest since April 2025.”
According to MBA, its Refinance Index decreased 5% from the previous week and was a notable 117% higher than the same week one year ago.
Refinance activity also decreased over the week, despite mortgage rates moving lower, and the 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.21% last week, a slight decline, however Kan said the movement was “not significant enough to incentivize more borrowers to refinance.”
Government-backed loans including the FHA share of total applications decreased to 17.8% from 18.6% the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 15.8% from 14.7% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.4 percent from 0.5% the week prior.
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