People dig out cars parked along Lancaster Street during a winter storm on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Albany, New York.
Lori Van Buren | Lori Van Buren Albany Times Union | Getty Images
The severe winter storm that recently hit much of the country took a toll on the mortgage market in the weeks that followed. Potential buyers stayed in their homes, and mortgage rates didn’t move enough to stimulate refinance demand.
Total mortgage applications fell 8.9% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. 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, including origination fees for loans with a 20% down payment, increased from 0.55 to 0.56 points and decreased from 6.24% to 6.21%.
Despite the decline, mortgage refinance applications fell 5% for the week, but were still up 117% from the same week last year, when interest rates were above 7%. Refinances as a share of mortgage activity increased to 57.1% of total applications from 56.2% the previous week.
The number of applications for mortgages to buy homes fell by 14% in the week, and rose just 4% from a year earlier.
“Winter Storm Fern likely had an impact, as snow fell across much of the country and disrupted homebuying activity,” said Joel Kang, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. “The annual growth rate in purchase applications was the lowest since April 2025.”
Mortgage rates have risen since the beginning of this week, according to another Mortgage News Daily index. It is currently at its highest level in two weeks, but the range is so small that it doesn’t mean much. Interest rates rose after a better-than-expected report on manufacturing.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct time references for recent winter storms.
