GYEONGJU, South Korea (AP) — Leaders of 21 Asia-Pacific Rim nations wrapped up their annual summit with a statement underscoring regional economic cooperation, just days after the presidents of the United States and China agreed to dial down their trade war.

After two days of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, APEC leaders issued a joint statement pledging greater cooperation to overcome shared challenges in a global economy hit hard by trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping — who met on the sidelines of the APEC summit — dialed back earlier steps and agreed to de-escalate trade tensions. Trump, known for his dismissal of multilateralism, quickly left South Korea after the agreement with Xi, allowing the Chinese president to steal the limelight at the summit.

APEC leaders call for greater cooperation

The joint statement declared that the APEC leaders “acknowledge the global trading system continues to face significant challenge.”

“We reaffirm our shared recognition that robust trade and investment are vital to the growth and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region,” it says.

Jeonghun Min, a professor at South Korea’s National Diplomatic Academy, said the statement avoided direct language supporting “free and open trade,” but still managed to endorse economic cooperation and multilateralism, which embody “the very purpose of free trade

“It wasn’t possible to leave that out entirely,” said Min.

The joint declaration also said that APEC members remain committed to the Putrajaya Vision 2040, a new 20-year growth vision adopted in 2020 that calls for a trade environment that’s “free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and predictable.”

Xi takes center stage

On Friday, Xi told the summit that China would support global free trade and supply chain stability — an apparent effort to position his country as an alternative to Trump’s protectionist policies. In written remarks sent to a CEO summit held in conjunction with APEC, Xi said that “investing in China is investing in the future.”

Xi also met with his Japanese, Canadian and Thai counterparts bilaterally on Friday and was to meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday for one-on-one talks that Seoul officials said would touch on efforts to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

That agenda has apparently angered North Korea, a non-APEC member. North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho on Saturday slammed South Korea for talking about “its daydream” of realizing North Korea’s denuclearization.

He said North Korea will show how such a push is “a pipedream” that can never be realized. Park’s statement was seen as applying pressure ahead of the Xi-Lee meeting.

Lee, an advocate of reconciliation with North Korea, said Saturday he would take “more active preemptive steps” to lower military tensions with the North, stressing that peace on the Korean Peninsula is essential to prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.

Trump earlier repeatedly expressed his desire to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to South Korea, but North Korea did not respond. Trump and Kim met three times in 2018-19, but their nuclear diplomacy eventually collapsed.

North Korea has since vowed not to place its advancing nuclear program on a negotiating table, but experts say the North would aim for winning extensive sanctions relief in return for a partial surrender of its advancing nuclear program.

APEC meeting also talks AI and demographic issues

While the summit focused on ways to boost trade and investment on Friday, Saturday’s meeting had cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence, demographic challenges and cultural industries on its agenda.

APEC leaders also issued two separate statements on Saturday. One called for a coordinated approach to the changes brought on by AI, which they described as a potential economic catalyst that also poses challenges in rapidly evolving digital environments. The other urged for cooperation to address declining birth rates, aging populations and accelerated urbanization.

Established in 1989, APEC champions free and open trade and investment to promote regional economic integration. But the region now faces challenges such as the U.S.-China rivalry, supply chain disruptions, aging populations and the impact of AI on jobs.

The U.S. strategy recently shifted to economic competition with China rather than cooperation, with Trump’s tariff hikes and “America first” agenda shaking markets and threatening decades of globalization and multinationalism.

FORT COLLINS, Colo (AP) — President Donald Trump’s efforts to help the U.S. coal industry at home are being undermined by falling sales abroad amid his trade war with China, new government reports show.

China has stopped importing U.S. coal, accounting for most of a 14% decline in U.S. coal exports so far this year, according to analysts and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week suggests trade progress. But whether it will include the U.S. coal industry is still uncertain.

“It’s hard to tell whether that’s just going to maintain the status quo or if that’s going to be an increase in exports of coal and soybeans to China,” coal analyst Seth Feaster with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said Friday.

Trump has been easing up on regulations and opening up mining on federal lands. The result has been to “keep our lights on, our economy strong, and America Energy Dominant,” Interior Department spokesperson Charlotte Taylor said in an e-mailed statement Friday.

The administration has also reduced royalty rates for coal extracted from federal lands and in September pledged $625 million to bolster coal power generation, including by recommissioning or modernizing old coal plants amid growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.

Recent government coal lease sales in Montana, Wyoming and Utah, however, have failed to draw bids deemed acceptable by the Interior Department.

So far this year, U.S. coal production is up about 6%, due not to Trump policies but higher natural gas prices, Feaster said.

Meanwhile, coal exports fell 14% from January through September compared to the same time last year, according to an EIA report released Oct. 7.

The drop followed an additional Chinese tariff of 15% on U.S. coal in February and a 34% reciprocal Chinese tariff on imports from the U.S. in April, the EIA said in a report issued Friday.

The U.S. exports about one-fifth of the coal it produces. Most goes to India, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil and South Korea.

China is not a top destination, taking in only about one-tenth of U.S. coal exports. But it has had an outsized effect on overall U.S. coal exports by halting all coal from the U.S. since April, said Andy Blumenfeld, a coal analyst at McCloskey by OPIS.

Almost three-quarters of U.S. coal exported to China last year was metallurgical coal used in steelmaking. The rest was thermal coal burned in power plants to produce electricity, according to Blumenfeld.

Nearly all U.S. metallurgical coal is mined in Appalachia, while the bulk of U.S. thermal coal comes from massive, open-pit mines in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana.

Appalachia would therefore benefit most from a resumption of U.S. coal exports to China, noted Blumenfeld by email.

“There is optimism,” Blumenfeld wrote. “But there is little documentation to back that up right now.”

Most coal headed for China last year went through Baltimore, with lesser amounts via the Norfolk, Virginia, area and Gulf of Mexico, according to Blumenfeld.

Relatively little thermal coal from the Western U.S. is exported due to the cost of hauling it by rail to the West Coast, where there has also been political resistance to building port facilities to export more coal.

Exxon Mobil Corporation is suing the state of California over a pair of 2023 climate disclosure laws that the company says infringe upon its free speech rights, namely by forcing it to embrace the message that large companies are uniquely to blame for climate change.

The oil and gas corporation based in Texas filed its complaint Friday in the U.S. Eastern District Court for California. It asks the court to prevent the laws from going into effect next year.

In its complaint, ExxonMobil says it has for years publicly disclosed its greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related business risks, but it fundamentally disagrees with the state’s new reporting requirements.

The company would have to use “frameworks that place disproportionate blame on large companies like ExxonMobil” for the purpose of shaming such companies, the complaint states.

Under Senate Bill 253, large businesses will have to disclose a wide range of planet-warming emissions, including both direct and indirect emissions such as the costs of employee business travel and product transport.

ExxonMobil takes issue with the methodology required by the state, which would focus on a company’s emissions worldwide and therefore fault businesses just for being large as opposed to being efficient, the complaint states.

The second law, Senate Bill 261, requires companies making more than $500 million annually to disclose the financial risks that climate change poses to their businesses and how they plan to address them.

The company said in its complaint that the law would require it to speculate “about unknowable future developments” and post such speculations on its website.

A spokesperson for the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an email that it was “truly shocking that one of the biggest polluters on the planet would be opposed to transparency.”

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he plans to hike tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an extra 10% because of an anti-tariff television ad aired by the province of Ontario.

The ad used the words of former President Ronald Reagan to criticize U.S. tariffs, angering Trump who said he would end trade talks with Canada. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would pull the ad after the weekend, and it ran Friday and Saturday during the first two games of the World Series.

“Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform as he flew aboard Air Force One to Malaysia.

“Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now.”

It was unclear what legal authority Trump would use to impose the additional import taxes. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on when the 10% hike would come into effect, and whether it would apply to all Canadian goods.

Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister responsible for trade issues with the U.S., tried to draw a distinction by pointing out in a statement that the responsibility for negotiations rests with Canada’s federal government, not provincial leaders.

“Progress is best achieved through direct engagement with the U.S. administration,” he said.

Canada’s economy has been hit hard by Trump’s tariffs, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been trying to work with Trump to lower them. More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($2.7 billion U.S.) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.

Spokespersons for Carney and Ford did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Many Canadian products have been hit with a 35% tariff, while steel and aluminum face rates of 50%. Energy products have a lower rate of 10%, while the vast majority of goods are covered by the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement, and are exempt from tariffs. That trade agreement is slated for review. Trump negotiated the deal in his first term, but has since soured on it.

Trump and Carney will both attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Malaysia. But Trump told reporters traveling with him that he had no intention of meeting Carney there.

Trump said the ad misrepresented the position of Reagan, a two-term president and a beloved figure in the Republican Party. But Reagan was wary of tariffs and used much of the 1987 address featured in Ontario’s ad spelling out the case against tariffs.

Trump has complained the ad was aimed at influencing the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of arguments scheduled for next month that could decide whether Trump has the power to impose his sweeping tariffs, a key part of his economic strategy. Lower courts had ruled he had exceeded his authority.

(Bloomberg) — Oil surged after the US announced sanctions on Russia’s biggest producers, as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on his counterpart Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

Brent advanced as much as 3% to trade above $64 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate rallied to near $60 after the US blacklisted state-run giant Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC, citing Moscow’s lack of commitment to peace in Ukraine. Trump is also seeking to squeeze Russia’s key oil buyers — India and China.

The sanctions mark a U-turn for Trump, who had announced last week he would meet Putin in the coming weeks and said repeatedly he believed Russia wanted to end the war. But on Tuesday, he said he didn’t want a wasted meeting.

The penalties “mark a shift in President Trump’s approach to Russia and open the door for tougher sanctions down the road, which could ultimately impact Russian oil flows,” said Warren Patterson, the head of commodities strategy for ING Groep NV in Singapore. “The uncertainty is how effective these sanctions will be and what impact they actually have” on exports, he added.

Following the measures, Trump said he planned to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the nation’s buying of Russian oil at a planned meeting next week in South Korea. On Tuesday, the US leader said India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him that the country would wind down its purchases.

The two nations became the biggest buyers of Russian oil following the war in Ukraine as other countries shunned Moscow for its invasion. Trump hit India with crushing tariffs for the trade, but has spared China from any action. Last week, the UK slapped sanctions on two Chinese energy firms that handle Russian energy, along with penalties on Rosneft and Lukoil.

“This is definitely one of the more meaningful measures the US has taken, but I think it will be blunted by the widespread use of illicit financial networks,” said Rachel Ziemba, an analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. China and India will likely buy a bit less, but there’s not going to be sudden stop of Russian oil, she added.

Rosneft, headed by Putin’s close ally Igor Sechin, and privately held Lukoil are the two largest Russian oil producers, jointly accounting for nearly a half of the nation’s total exports, according to Bloomberg estimates. Taxes from the oil and gas industries account for about a quarter of the federal budget.

The US measures are a radical change of policy, where previous efforts included a Group-of-Seven price cap on Russian oil that sought to limit revenue for the Kremlin without disrupting supply and causing a spike in global prices.

Separately, European Union countries have reached an agreement on a new package of Russian sanctions that are expected to be adopted on Thursday. The measures will target 45 entities that have helped the OPEC+ producer evade penalties, including 12 companies in China and Hong Kong, according to a statement from Denmark, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

Oil has bounced back from a five-month low reached on Monday, on signs the latest selloff was overdone and as a drop in US crude inventories helped ease oversupply concerns. Still, futures remain on track for a third monthly loss as expectations for a global surplus put downward pressure on prices.

(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration announced sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil producers, rolling out its first major package of financial punishments on President Vladimir Putin’s economy as part of a fresh bid to end the war in Ukraine.

The Treasury Department blacklisted state-run oil giant Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC because of “Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine,” according to a statement on Wednesday.

The curbs mark a U-turn for President Donald Trump, who had held off on major sanctions and announced earlier this month that he would meet Putin in the coming weeks. It is also a radical change for Western policy around Russian oil, where previously efforts including a Group-of-Seven cap on Russian oil prices had sought to limit revenue for the Kremlin but without impacting the flow of barrels.

In the last day, Trump indicated a change of heart, saying he didn’t want a wasted meeting.

Oil prices immediately spiked in response to the sanctions, with Brent advancing as much as 3% on Thursday to trade above $64 a barrel. The renewed threat of disruption to Russian supplies galvanizes a global oil market that has been bracing itself for a dramatic supply glut.

State-controlled Rosneft, headed by Putin’s close ally Igor Sechin, and privately held Lukoil are the two largest Russian oil producers, jointly accounting for nearly half of the nation’s total crude exports, according to Bloomberg estimates. Taxes from the oil and gas industries account for about a quarter of the federal budget.

“I just felt it was time,” Trump said in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. He said he hoped “they won’t be on for long” and he expected the war would be settled.

“The only thing I can say is, every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they just don’t go anywhere,” Trump said. He said a meeting with the Russian leader will take place in the future.

Before Wednesday, Trump had repeatedly backed away from threats of tariffs, sanctions and other punishments against Russia. On July 29, he gave Russia 10 days to reach a truce with Ukraine. But the Aug. 8 deadline came and went without further action by the US leader. He then met Putin in Alaska but the meeting produced no progress on the war.

The latest gambit was one former President Joe Biden considered in the waning days of his presidency. But he resisted over fears of spooking global energy markets and spiking the price of oil. Given Trump’s own focus on keeping gasoline prices low, it marks a major gamble and signals his patience with Putin may finally be running out. In the Oval Office meeting, he said he believed gas would go to $2 a gallon.

Ukraine welcomed the move.

“For the first time during the tenure of the 47th President of the United States, Washington has decided to impose full blocking sanctions against Russian energy companies,” Ambassador Olga Stefanishyna said in a statement.

In Ukraine earlier Wednesday, Russia launched multiple drone and missile strikes, killing at least seven civilians including children in the early hours of Wednesday. Russia continues to ramp up its attacks on energy infrastructure with Kyiv attempting to respond by targeting refineries.

It’s unclear whether the latest restrictions can seriously impact Putin’s calculus on the war. The Biden administration imposed wave after wave of sanctions against Russia after its invasion in 2022, damaging the economy but never deterring Putin from pressing ahead.

Because the focus is on the oil companies themselves — not secondary sanctions that would penalize third-parties that do business with them — many of those barrels are still likely to find their way to market, albeit at a higher cost.

The latest sanctions could, however, have unexpected impacts including on India and oil purchases that have long irked Trump. Refining giant Reliance Industries Ltd, the country’s largest importer of Russian oil, has been buying cargoes under a term deal with Rosneft.

The UK sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil a week ago, already increasing pressure on buyers like India’s refiners. On Thursday, the European Union is set to announce a new sanctions package that will include an import ban on liquefied natural gas.

With the US action too, “you have some coordination that could meaningfully increase the challenge of buying Russian oil,” said Kevin Book, managing director at Washington-based ClearView Energy Partners. “This is really the first affirmative and significant step of Trump 2.0 on Russian oil.”

Still, Thomas Graham, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, warned the latest sanctions may ultimately amount to less than Trump hopes.

“If the White House thinks this is going to lead to radical change in the Kremlin’s conduct or Putin’s policy, they’re deluding themselves — and I don’t think that they actually believe that,” Graham said.

“Sanctions work slowly and the Kremlin has been very good at circumventing these kinds of sanctions,” he said.

President Donald Trump said Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him during a phone call Tuesday that India would wind down purchases of Russian oil, a possible reprieve to their trade impasse.

Trump said at the White House during a Diwali celebration that the two leaders had “talked about a lot of things, but mostly the world of trade — he’s very interested in that.” Modi acknowledged the call in a social media post on Wednesday, without mentioning the content of the discussion.

Trump hit India with 50% tariffs on its exports to the US in part to pressure New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil and to counter what the US has cast as high levies and other barriers on American goods.

The US president said last week that he had received assurances from Modi that India would stop buying oil from Russia, transactions seen by Ukraine’s allies as buoying the Kremlin’s economy and war effort. New Delhi hasn’t confirmed whether it would comply and the Ministry of External Affairs said it wasn’t aware of a call between Trump and Modi last week.

On Tuesday, Trump appeared to signal that India would curb rather than halt purchases of Russian energy.

“He’s not going to buy much oil from Russia,” Trump said. “He wants to see that war end as much as I do. He wants to see the war end with Russia, Ukraine, and as you know, they’re not going to be buying too much oil.”

In a post on X, Modi thanked Trump for the “warm Diwali greetings.” The Indian embassy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the call. The White House also did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

Trump has softened his rhetoric on India in recent weeks as the two nations carry out talks to clinch a trade deal and lower tariffs. Any effort to scale back Russian energy buys would be a gradual process, and Modi’s government has previously indicated that the country would continue to make those purchases if it is economically viable.

The two sides are narrowing their differences over trade and are working toward an agreement that could see the tariff rate on Indian goods lowered to 15-16%, Mint newspaper reported Wednesday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Trade negotiators from New Delhi made solid progress in their talks in the US last week, an official said on the weekend.

India became a major importer of Russian crude after the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, buying oil at a discount. Russian oil makes up about a third of India’s overall imports despite the US push to curb flows.

Trump and Modi have been at odds over the US president’s claims that he used trade as leverage to broker a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May. While Pakistan has embraced that assertion — and nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize — Modi and Indian officials have bristled at the notion that the US pressured them into a ceasefire.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday on selling of technology shares following a lackluster day on Wall Street.

U.S. futures edged higher, while crude oil prices rose more than $1 a barrel.

Chinese markets retreated after U.S. President Donald Trump cast doubt on whether or not he will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month.

“Maybe it won’t happen, maybe it won’t happen,” he said while hosting a lunch for Republican Party senators at the White House.

However, Trump also said he was expecting “to do well” in negotiations with China.

“I’m going to see President Xi in two weeks. … We’re going to meet in South Korea, ” he said. “We’re going to talk about a lot of things they want to discuss.”

Trump is traveling in the next several days to Japan and South Korea, in part, to finalize the terms of investments from those countries as part of an agreement to minimize the tariff rates Trump is charging on foreign goods.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.8% to 25,819.10, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.1% to 3,914.97.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 wavered between slight gains and losses a day after its parliament chose Sanae Takaichi to be its first female prime minister.

It closed almost flat at 49,307.79, pulled lower by declines for tech companies like SoftBank Group Corp., whose shares fell about 5%.

The government reported that Japan’s exports grew 4.2% in September from a year earlier, boosted by robust shipments to Asia that offset a 13% decline in those destined for the U.S. Auto shipments fell 24% as they were hit hard by Trump’s tariff hikes.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.7% to 9,030.00, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.6% to 3,883.68.

Tuesday on Wall Street, the S&P 500 inched up a fraction of a point, leaving it just slightly below its all-time high set earlier this month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to a new record and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2%.

General Motors rallied 15.1% after reporting stronger quarterly results than analysts expected, while also raising its forecasts for some full-year financial targets. Warner Bros. Discovery leaped 10.9% after the company said it’s now considering other options besides its previously announced split of Discovery Global off Warner Bros., which could be more profitable for shareholders.

Keeping the market in check were drops for some Big Tech stocks, which lost momentum following their own rallies. A 2% drop for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, from its all-time high was among the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. So was Broadcom’s 2% fall.

The pressure is on companies to show that their profits are growing following a torrid rally of 35% for the S&P 500 from a low in April. It’s one way they can justify their high stock prices amid criticism that they’re too expensive.

Corporate earnings reports also can provide details on the strength of the U.S. economy at a time when the U.S. government’s shutdown has delayed important economic updates. That’s making the job of the Federal Reserve more difficult, as it tries to decide whether high inflation or the slowing job market is the bigger issue for the economy.

Despite the shutdown, the Commerce Department will release its consumer prices report on Friday, which could help guide the Fed’s interest rate policy. It will be the government’s first data release since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

In other dealings early Wednesday, the price of gold was up 1.1% at $4,152.70 per ounce. It fell 5.7% from its latest record on Tuesday but is up more than 56.4% for the year.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose $1.18 to $58.42 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped $1.23 to $62.55 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 151.74 Japanese yen from 151.93 yen. The euro cost $1.1611, up from $1.1600.

Mortgage rates have been fluctuating over the past month, but all the changes have been small. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped by three basis points this week — but it’s still one basis point higher than this time last month. Stagnant rates may leave you wondering: Is it a good time to buy a house?

Are mortgage rates dropping?

As of Oct. 16, Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate had fallen by three basis points to 6.27%. The 30-year rate is now 17 basis points lower than it was this time last year. In mid-October 2024, mortgage rates averaged 6.44%. This week’s 15-year fixed mortgage rate is down just one basis point to 5.52%. However, it is 11 basis points lower than this time last year. In situations like these, it pays to look at the numbers. Here’s the Freddie Mac data on mortgage rates for the past 52 weeks as of Oct. 16, 2025:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage: 6.26% to 7.04%
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: 5.41% to 6.27%

If you just go by the numbers, rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages are between the highs and lows of the last 12 months, but are definitely leaning toward the lower end— especially the 30-year rate, which is just one basis point higher than its 52-week low. So, yes, mortgage rates are dropping when you look at the larger picture. But for the past month or so, they’ve hardly moved.

Will mortgage rates go down this year?

Now that the Federal Reserve has lowered the fed funds rate, why have mortgage rates ticked up? This is actually very similar to what happened last year when the Fed slashed its rate for the first time.

The latest from the Federal Reserve

When the Fed — the common nickname for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) — held its September 2025 meeting, it voted to lower the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. The central bank had cut its rate three times at the end of 2024, but this was the first slash of 2025. That federal funds rate tends to directly influence rates on shorter-term lending. While mortgage rates aren’t directly based on the fed funds rate, they typically mirror fed fund rate trends. So, if the fed funds rate goes down, mortgage rates will likely follow. The inverse is also true. When people anticipate a fed funds rate cut, mortgage rates usually fall in the weeks leading up to the meeting. However, home loan rates don’t necessarily continue to decrease after a fed funds rate cut. In 2024, mortgage rates plummeted throughout August and early September as people expected the Fed to lower its rate at the bank’s September meeting. But mortgage rates stopped decreasing significantly after this meeting — and after the two additional rate cuts later that year. The same seems to have happened in 2025. Mortgage rates gradually declined in the weeks leading up to the September meeting when people expected the Fed to lower its rate, and even though the fed funds rate did go down, mortgage rates bounced back up. Now, a few weeks later, they’ve settled down.

The latest on 10-year Treasury yields

While short-term lending rates closely follow the fed funds rate, mortgage rates more closely follow the 10-year Treasury yield. As of Oct. 14, the 10-year Treasury yield sat at 4.03% — unchanged from a year prior. You’re probably wondering why today’s mortgage rates aren’t in the 4% range, right? To determine current mortgage rates, lenders add a “spread” to the 10-year Treasury yield. The spread is simply the difference between the rates consumers pay and the rate on the 10-year Treasury. Without getting too much into the weeds, charging a spread helps mortgage lenders cover costs associated with making loans to the public and the risk of providing such loans. For example, the current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.27%, and the 10-year Treasury yield is 4.03% — a spread of 2.24%. Should you wait to buy until mortgage rates go down? In short, no. You probably shouldn’t wait to buy a home until mortgage rates drop more drastically. Mortgage rates are just one part of the affordability equation. You also have to consider home prices, a factor of housing supply and demand. The current housing market is in a crunch. To put it simply, buyers outnumber homes for sale, especially homes in price ranges accessible to the first-time home buyer. When supply and demand are out of balance like this, home prices tend to remain high since sellers know they’ll have multiple buyers interested. According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the median sale price of single-family homes has generally trended upward since Q1 of 2009. At that time, the median sale price was $208,400. The median price had risen to $410,800 by Q2 2025. While recession speculation has recently increased, prospective buyers likely won’t see much relief in a true recession. If interest rates drop like they tend to do in recessions, that will increase the number of people looking to buy and lock in a lower interest rate. That drives up demand for the already limited supply of homes. To truly save, buyers need both interest rates and home prices to drop. Mortgage rates are inching down this month, and housing prices are stagnant or even lowering in certain parts of the country. Still, rates are higher than they were this time last year, and prices are still increasing in many cities. Situations may be improving for buyers, but there’s a lot of work to be done.

Strategies for buyers in today’s mortgage market

If you crave the comforts of homeownership, the best strategy in today’s market may be to buy what you can afford. Whether that means a smaller house or a condo instead of a single-family home, owning something puts you in a position to start building equity. Yes, shopping for the best mortgage lenders with low rates and fees is crucial when getting a mortgage. But to help you find your ideal home that balances affordability and desirability, it pays to adopt a curious mindset and consider lesser-discussed financial tools.

Get curious

There’s no better time to learn more about your local real estate market than today. By adopting a sense of curiosity, you could discover that your city has more to offer housing-wise than you previously thought. You may want to take weekend excursions to lesser-known neighborhoods and suburban developments beyond the city limits. You never know what you’ll find that could expand your idea of what “home” looks like — including new developments, school districts, and types of homes.

Consider a fixer-upper

If you’re looking to spend less on a home in today’s mortgage market, a house needing a bit of TLC could help you do just that. Loans like the FHA 203(k) mortgage can roll your purchase and renovation costs into one convenient loan. When you qualify and have an accepted offer, your lender immediately funds the home’s purchase price and puts the cost of renovations into an escrow account. As you make repairs, funds get dispersed.

Rethink your commute

How would it feel to have a longer commute yet come home to a house you love? Master-planned communities tend to crop up outside major cities, offering amenities like parks, shopping, and top-notch schools — all in exchange for a longer commute. These areas could look a lot more palatable if they offer commuting options like park-and-ride or commuter rail. Dare to consider parking the car and taking public transit if it could get you into the home of your dreams.

Go condo

While shared walls, floors, and ceilings might not immediately scream “dream home,” they could help you find an affordable home in a terrific area. Condominiums come in various shapes and sizes, from apartment-style flats to townhomes. Depending on the area, you might even score a small backyard. However, be sure to consider HOA fees when calculating your monthly payment.

Consider a 15-year mortgage

While the monthly payment on a 15-year mortgage will be higher than the typical 30-year, these loans have plenty of upsides. Not only will you pay off your home on a speedier timeline, but you’ll also likely score a lower interest rate and save a ton on interest over the life of your loan.

Explore rate buydowns

To make today’s mortgage rates more palatable, look into rate buydown options. An interest rate buydown lets you pay cash up front in exchange for a reduced interest rate on your mortgage. Buydowns can be permanent or temporary (for your loan’s first one to three years, for example). Even a few years of lower rate relief can make today’s home prices more affordable.

When will mortgage rates go down? FAQs

How soon will mortgage interest rates go down?

Expert opinions differ on what mortgage rates will do over the next year or so. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) predicted in its September forecast that the 30-year fixed rate would hit 6.5% by the end of 2025 and 6.4% in Q4 2026. However, the September Fannie Mae Housing Forecast was more optimistic. Fannie Mae predicted that rates will go down to 5.9% by the end of next year. Both forecasts put mortgage rates at above 6% throughout 2025, though.

Is 7% a high mortgage rate?

Compared to historical mortgage rates, 7% isn’t considered a high rate. While it might be high compared to pandemic-era rates that were sub-3%, it’s on par with mortgage rates in the 1990s, and considerably lower than the double-digit rates seen in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Is it impossible to get a 3% interest rate on a mortgage?

It’s not impossible to get a 3% interest rate, but doing so requires the perfect set of circumstances. You’d need to find a homeowner with an assumable mortgage — one that can be passed to a new owner at the same interest rate as the original loan. Assumable mortgages are generally government-backed loans from agencies like the VA, FHA, or USDA.

Cleveland-Cliffs reported rising demand for its steel in the third quarter, and said it will explore producing rare-earth minerals, as the Trump administration’s trade policy rewards its U.S. footprint.

Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive of the Cleveland-based steel company, on Monday directly credited the current U.S. trade policy, which includes a 50% tariff on steel, for helping it seal new steel-supply deals with major auto companies.

“It’s now widely accepted and understood that tariffs are here to stay,” Goncalves said in the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “The only effective way to avoid tariffs is manufacturing in the United States.”

The added demand helped the Cleveland-based company’s sales grow to $4.73 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up from $4.57 billion a year earlier. Analysts expected $4.9 billion, according to FactSet.

Goncalves also said Cleveland-Cliffs is looking to expand its presence in domestic rare-earth metal production, examining mining sites in Michigan and Minnesota that show key indicators of rare-earth minerals.

Cleveland Cliffs shares rose 17% in early trading to $15.56. The stock is up nearly 70% so far this year.

The push into domestic rare-earth minerals fits with the Trump administration’s attempt to boost domestic production of the metals. Used in a range of products including consumer electronics, renewable-energy systems and military technology, the metals have become a recent flashpoint in the trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

The rare-earth mining sites “would align Cleveland-Cliffs with the broader national strategy for critical material independence, similar to what we achieved in steel,” Goncalves said in a statement.

Earlier this month China, the dominant producer of rare earths, tightened export controls of products with the metals, leading Trump to threaten an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports.

China said foreign suppliers would have to gain approval to export products with certain rare-earth materials if they account for at least 0.1% of the good’s total value. Beijing said products with military uses generally would not be approved.

Shares of rare-earth metal companies have rallied in recent weeks as a result of the heightened trade tensions. The sector also got a boost earlier this year, when the Pentagon took a 15% stake in MP Materials, America’s largest rare-earths miner.

Last week, JPMorgan said it would invest $10 billion in companies critical to U.S. national security, including rare-earth producers.

Cleveland-Cliffs’s steel business, meanwhile, continues to benefit from the trade policy. It entered a memorandum of understanding with a global steel producer seeking to benefit from Cleveland-Cliffs’s U.S. production, the company said.

“As a result of this new trade environment, we have won new and growing supply arrangements with all major automotive [original equipment manufacturers],” Goncalves said. “Many of these customers have told us directly that they want to reduce their exposure to tariffs and to foreign volatility.”

Cleveland Cliffs posted a third-quarter loss of $251 million, or 51 cents a share, compared with a loss of $244 million, or 52 cents a share, the year prior.

Adjusted earnings were 45 cents a share, in line with analysts’ expectations, according to FactSet.