Homebuyers await mortgage relief after Federal Reserve's back-to-back rate cuts

All right, in today's Money Watch, if you are looking to buy a home, this one's for you. The Federal Reserve has now made two back-to-back interest rate cuts, but when will potential homebuyers see and feel the relief when it comes to mortgage rates? CBS News Money Watch correspondent Kelly O'Grady is here to break it all down. Kelly, good morning. So, when? When's it going to happen? I know, right? I mean, that's the question. The thing to think about it, though, is I know that this seems counterintuitive, but the reason that mortgage rates are not, they're not directly tied to the benchmark interest rate. They're really tied to where investors think that the rates are going. So, your 30-year fixed, right? It's a long-term loan. Those don't fluctuate with what the Fed is doing. Really, what this is more about is where investors think that's going. That's really more tied to the 10-year Treasury yield, and so when investors think inflation is going to rise, you will see the 10-year Treasury rise. And so, that's really what more drives mortgage rates. So, when you see the Fed have an interest rate cut, you think, oh, okay, well, great, now mortgage rates are going to go down. In fact, it's more about where investors think those rates are going. So, what is someone to do who wants to buy a home? Do we wait? Do we go now? Like, if the rates are tied to where investors think the economy is going, what does that even mean? So, I'm definitely in that situation. I want to be buying a home. So, really what you think about is what the Fed is doing, okay, so keep a look on that because eventually that will trickle down to mortgage rates. The second thing is where inflation is going. What is the messaging around the job market? Hey, Google it. Throw up the 10-year Treasury. See what's happening there. I will note, we have a new president coming in. We don't know exactly where the economy is going to go. We don't have hard facts, but investors will start to speculate, and that will drive mortgage rates. And you can see what did happen with mortgage rates before. They did come down because they were factoring in these interest rate cuts that we did get. But the best advice, Adriana, that I've gotten from experts in this field is marry the house, date the rate. If you find a house that you like, commit because you can always refinance in the future when those rates come down. That's an analogy that speaks to me. I like that. I saw it in the little bullet point thing, and I was like, what does that mean? Are you waiting to find the right one, or are you going to? Have you married the house yet? Well, I've married the man. Okay. Check. I've married the dog. I haven't married the house yet. It's still finding that right one. All right. Love is out there for you, Kelly. I know it. Love it. Kelly O'Grady, thank you so much.