The
seasonally
adjusted
purchase
index
decreased
14%
from
one
week
earlier,
while
the
unadjusted
purchase
index
increased
2%
compared
with
the
previous
week
and
was
4%
higher
than
the
same
week
one
year
ago.

“Application
volume
was
down
last
week,
led
by
a
14%
drop
in

purchase
applications.
Winter
Storm
Fern
likely
had
an
impact
as
much
of
the
country
was
snowed
in,
hampering
homebuying
activity,”
said
Joel
Kan,
the
MBA’s
vice
president
and
deputy
chief
economist.

“The
annual
increase
in
purchase
applications
was
the
weakest
since
April
2025.
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.”

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,
up
from
56.2%
the
previous
week.

The

adjustable-rate
mortgage
(ARM)
share
of
activity
decreased
to
7.5%
of
total
applications.
The


Federal
Housing
Administration (FHA)
share
of
total
applications
decreased
to
17.8%,
down
from
18.6%
the
week
prior.
The


U.S.
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs (VA)
share
increased
from
14.7%
to
15.8%
from
14.7%
during
the
week,
while
the


U.S.
Department
of
Agriculture (USDA)
share
decreased
from
0.5%
to
0.4%.

The
average
contract
interest
rate
for
30-year
fixed-rate
mortgages
with

conforming
loan
balances
($832,750
or
less)
decreased
3
basis
points
to
6.21%,
while
rates
for
jumbo
loan
balances
(greater
than
$832,750)
declined
by
2
bps
to
6.32%.

The
average
rate
for
30-year
fixed-rate
mortgages
backed
by
the
FHA
decreased
from
6.06%
to
6.04%
and
rates
for
15-year
fixed
mortgages
decreased
from
5.64%
to
5.61%.
The
average
rate
for
5/1
ARMs
dropped
19
bps
to
5.37%.

Xactus
Mortgage
Intent
Index

Starting
this
week,

HousingWire‘s
mortgage
applications
report
includes
data
from
the

Xactus

Mortgage
Intent
Index,
which
analyzes
aggregated,
anonymized
credit
pull
activity
across
the
Xactus
Intelligent
Verification
Platform.
The
platform
accounts
for
nearly
one-third
of
all
credit
pulls
nationwide
and
serves
as
a
forward-looking
indicator
for
the
mortgage
market.

The
index
observed
that
borrower
intent
declined
last
week
after
a
strong
start
to
2026,
reversing
gains
seen
earlier
in
the
month.

Nationally,
borrower
intent
fell
3.76%
from
the
prior
week
and
was
down
4.19%
compared
with
the
same
week
a
year
earlier.

“Overall,
intent
grew
year-on-year
for
the
month
of
January,
posting
a
5.26%
increase
over
January
2025,”
said
Thomas
Lloyd,
chief
strategy
officer
for
Xactus.

Xactus
also
cited
the
winter
storm
as
a
factor,
with
the
New
England,
Mideast,
Southeast
and
Southwest
regions
seeing
week-over-week
drops
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.
Borrower
intent
in
the
Far
West
rose
7.65%
from
the
prior
week,
while
the
Rocky
Mountain
region
posted
a
2.9%
increase.