How much does a $500,000 mortgage loan cost monthly after the Fed's October rate cut?

Before locking in a mortgage loan, it's important to know what your payments could be at today's rates. Manusapon Kasosod/Getty Images

Last week, the Federal Reserve delivered a quarter-point rate cut at the close of its October meeting, lowering the benchmark rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%, with the goal of helping to ease borrowing costs amid an elevated rate climate. That rate cut was the Fed's second consecutive cut of 2025 and followed a similar 25-basis point reduction in September. Despite the central bank's efforts to ease financial conditions, though, questions remain about what this second rate cut of 2025 means for everyday borrowers.

While the Fed doesn't set borrowing rates directly, its moves ripple through financial markets, and those effects are already showing.