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- Rough winter weather hits homebuyers, tanking mortgage demand
Rough winter weather hits homebuyers, tanking mortgage demand
Plus: CFPB to resume exams in April, but with major cutbacks
🐫 Good Wednesday morning. Today’s newsletter is 598 words, a 2-minute read.
Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of February 03, 2026. © MND Daily Rate Index.
1. CFPB to resume exams in April, but with major cutbacks
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will restart examinations in Q2 2026 after months of suspension, but with dramatic reductions: fewer than 70 exams this year versus an average of 600+ annually from 2020-2024.
Key changes:
All exams conducted remotely instead of on-site
Shorter duration focused on "pressing threats" and traditional statutory authority
Examiners barred from using disparate impact analysis to detect discrimination
Supervision shifting toward banks over $10 billion, away from fintech and nonbanks
The rollback follows acting director Russell Vought's takeover and comes as the agency faces a legal challenge over plans to cut up to 90% of staff. Other federal banking regulators are similarly scaling back examinations.
2. Rough winter weather hits homebuyers, tanking mortgage demand
Total mortgage application volume dropped 8.9% last week compared with the previous week, according to the MBA’s seasonally adjusted index. Last week’s results included an adjustment for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Applications to refinance a home loan fell 5% for the week but were still 117% higher than the same week one year ago.
Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home fell 14% for the week and were just 4% higher year over year.
The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.21% from 6.24%.
“Winter Storm Fern likely had an impact as much of the country was snowed in, hampering homebuying activity,” said Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the MBA. “The annual increase in purchase applications was the weakest since April 2025.”
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3. More Nuggets
💃 Travel's newest flex: "Skillcations". (Axios)
⚒️ Builders push ‘Trump Homes’ in pitch for a million houses. (Bloomberg)
🆕 Bed Bath & Beyond parent eyes mortgages through deals with Figure, Tokens’com. (PPR)
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🗞️ Potential Impacts due to partial government shutdown. (Newrez)
In 2022, after mortgage interest rates hit more than a dozen record lows, sparking a refinance bonanza, barely 10% of homeowners had 30-year fixed mortgages with rates above 5%. Just four years later, that share has jumped to over 30%, according to ICE Mortgage Technology. About 20% of borrowers have mortgages with a rate over 6%.
5. Experian to acquire mortgage shopping platform Own Up
Experian plans to expand its presence in the mortgage industry by acquiring Own Up, an artificial intelligence-powered mortgage shopping platform.
The acquisition will add Own Up’s homebuying guidance and loan capabilities to Experian Marketplace, joining Experian’s existing ecosystem of credit cards, personal loans and auto insurance offers, the companies said in a Tuesday (Feb. 3) press release.
The acquisition is expected to close in 90 days, subject to regulatory approvals, according to the release.
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