Mortgage interest rates have been on a slow but steady decline for much of 2025. sakchai vongsasiripat/Getty Images

The Federal Reserve is meeting this week for the first time since July and, for the first time since December 2024 , an interest rate cut is once again expected.

That's big news for homebuyers who have mostly been on the sidelines in recent years thanks to a surge in mortgage rates. But that trend has reversed itself in recent weeks, as mortgage rates declined consistently over the summer and fell to 11-month and nearly 1-year lows , respectively, in September. A formal rate cut, then, could lead to further mortgage rate reductions.

Against this backdrop, and considering that the mortgage rate climate is volatile and hard to predict, homebuyers should be

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