An aerial view of homes in a neighborhood on Aug.27, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
While the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate this week, mortgage rates responded by doing just the opposite.
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage has jumped 20 basis points since Chairman Jerome Powell announced the cut on Wednesday and held a news conference, according to Mortgage News Daily.
This happened the last time the Fed lowered its rate as well, and the reason is pretty simple: the bond market had already priced in a cut, but it didn’t like the commentary from Powell.
On Tuesday, the average rate on the 30-year fixed had fallen to 6.13%, matching the recent low on Sept. 16, which was the day before the Fed announced its last cut, and marking the lowest level in a year.
Then this week, after the Fed said it would reduce rates and Powell answered questions in a news conference, that rate shot up 14 basis points on Wednesday and rose another 6 basis points on Thursday, to 6.33%, an even 20 basis points higher than where it was Tuesday. The last time around in September, the rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage went even higher, to 6.37%.
“The market’s enthusiasm for 3 Fed rate cuts in 2025 had grown a bit too large for the Fed’s liking,” said Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily, in a client note. “The market was nearly 100% certain of another cut in December. The Fed was not as certain, and Powell made it a point to say so yesterday. The result is a mild re-set in yields back to levels that are more consistent with a December cut being a solid possibility, but not a full lock.”
The recent drop in rates had caused a run on refinances, with those applications up 111% last week year over year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Lower rates did not, however, move the needle much for potential homebuyers.
