Refinance activity is on the up in a ‘vibrant’ Boston market, says SVP, despite extreme weather
Bitter weather has pummeled much of the Eastern Seaboard in recent weeks, dumping a huge amount of snow and casting a deep chill over multiple states at the beginning of 2026.
Just this week, millions of people in the northeastern corner of the country were forced to stay inside as wind and blizzard warnings prompted mass public transportation shutdowns and a flurry of businesses shuttering their doors.
The housing market has taken a hit from that dramatic winter blast, according to Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) vice president and deputy chief economist Joel Kan.
The fact that much of the country was snowed in for most of January, he said in a recent release, probably hindered purchase activity and kept buyers off the streets.
But the brutal weather hasn’t weighed against refinances, which have seen a jump since the beginning of the year as existing homeowners rush to capitalize on a slight dip in rates.
In Boston, which has witnessed a “monster” storm this week and looks set to face even more snow in the days ahead, Rate’s senior vice president of mortgage lending Sammy Iliopoulos said the market had seen a strong start to the year on both purchase and refinance sides despite those weather trends.
“I think the real reason why things have come hot out of the gates is primarily lower interest rates,” he told Mortgage Professional America. “We’re about a percent lower than we were a year ago and volume on purchase is about 15% higher.
“With refinances, it almost feels like it’s COVID all over again with how many people are applying. Even though we’re only looking at a percent, people are saving – depending on the loan size – quite a bit of money.”
Home inspections prove challenging amid winter blitz
Certain micro-markets have undoubtedly been impacted more than others, he added, and the snow is making it particularly difficult for buyers when it comes to home inspections.
That’s reportedly resulted in plenty of buyers adding provisions in the purchase and sale agreements in their contracts to cover them in the event of something being hidden by the snow during the inspection.
“Depending on how the negotiations go, with any major issues they’ll typically put a price tag on them that they can [take] back to the seller and have the seller pay for it,” Iliopoulos said. “But that’s been pretty standard.”
The most common problem that’s arising in those cases relates to septic tanks. In the Boston area, every home is required to have either a connection to a public sewer system or properly designed, permitted, and maintained on-site system that complies with state “Title 5” regulations.
“A lot of towns in and around Boston have septic tanks,” Iliopoulos said, “and some of them literally require a refurb in order for them to get it back to code. And they’re having to wait until the ground thaws. So it’s part of the negotiations.”
Lower rates help spur uptick in refi applications
Nationally, mortgage applications inched higher by 0.4% for the week ending February 20, according to the MBA, while the unadjusted index was up by 2%. That was driven by a 4% increase in refi applications, and purchase applications were 12% higher than the same time last year.
Rates haven’t plummeted in recent weeks, but they’ve seen their biggest meaningful drop for quite some time – and some 30-year fixed rates are even available at a discount in the fives, a far cry from when they lurched above 7% in recent years.
That’s proven an important psychological boost for buyers and refinancers, according to Iliopoulos, as they look to a potentially brighter housing outlook in the year ahead.
“It’s been the busiest first two months of the year, probably since four or five years ago,” he said. “We’re cranking on all cylinders.”
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