People dig out their cars parked along Lancaster St. in Albany, NY during a winter storm on Monday, January 26, 2026
Lori Van Buren | Albany Times Union | Getty Images
The severe winter storm that recently hit much of the country took its toll on the mortgage market over the following week. Potential buyers stayed home and mortgage rates didn’t rise enough to spur demand for refinances.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index, total mortgage application volume fell 8.9% last week compared to the previous week. Last week’s results included an adjustment for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of $832,750 or less decreased from 6.24% to 6.21%, with points for loans with a 20% down payment increasing from 0.55 to 0.56, including the origination fee.
Despite the decline, applications to refinance a home loan fell 5% this week but were still 117% higher than the same week a year ago when interest rates were above 7%. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 57.1% of all applications from 56.2% the previous week.
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Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 14% for the week and were only 4% higher year-on-year.
“Winter Storm Fern likely had an impact as much of the country was snowed in, hampering home buying activity,” said Joel Kan, MBA vice president and deputy chief economist. “The annual increase in purchase applications was the weakest since April 2025.”
On a separate index from Mortgage News Daily, mortgage rates rose earlier this week. They are now at their highest level in two weeks, but that doesn’t mean much as the fluctuation is small. Rates rose on a stronger-than-expected manufacturing report.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the time reference for the recent winter storm.