Mortgage rates jump after Fed Chair Powell says a December rate cut's uncertain. Will they drop again and what this could mean for the housing market.

The current average mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 6.15%, the same as a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Research Center. For borrowers who want a shorter mortgage, the average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage is 5.

The Fed’s cut has grabbed headlines, but mortgage rates can do their own thing. Learn what’s driving them—and what it means if you’re buying or looking to refinance.

The Federal Reserve announced a 25-basis-point cut to the federal funds rate at the conclusion of its meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 29. The bankers had shifted into rate-cutting mode back in September with a crop of the same size. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point, so today’s trim amounts to a quarter of a percentage point.

Mortgage rates are already at their lowest levels in over a year, so it remains to be seen whether the Federal Reserve's October rate cut will drive rates lower – or if the rate cut was already priced in.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell joined the majority of the FOMC to vote for the quarter-point rate cut at Wednesday's meeting in Washington, DC.

Rates have been flirting with long term lows over the past 2 weeks, but today made it official.  Today's average top tier 30yr fixed rate perfectly matched that seen on September 16th, 2025.