"Purchase demand continues to rise on the back of lower rates and solid economic growth," Sam Khater, Freddie Mac chief economist, said in a press release. "Though many potential homebuyers still face affordability challenges, consistently lower rates may provide them with the impetus to enter the market."

Meanwhile, the 15-year FRM was unchanged week-to-week at 5.69%. For the week of Aug. 29, 2024, it was at 5.51%.

The 10-year Treasury yield on Thursday morning was at 4.22%, its lowest point in two weeks. On Wednesday it closed at 4.24%, while on Aug. 21, it ended the trading day at 4.33%.

Following Powell's speech, the 10-year closed at 4.26% last Friday.

If anything, most of this week's reduction in mortgage rates was "right on the heels" of the speech, said Kate Wood, lending expert at Nerdwallet, in a commentary.

"There are still some significant data drops ahead of the Fed's September meeting, but so long as the signs continue to point to a rate cut it's likely that mortgage rates will meet that mark first," Wood said.

Following Powell's speech, mortgage pricing remained steady throughout the week, a reminder of how sensitive this is to inflation data and Federal Reserve signals, said Samir Dedhia, CEO of One Real Mortgage, in a comment in anticipation of the Freddie Mac report.

"Investors are now increasingly confident that a 25-basis point cut is on the table next month, and some are even speculating that we could see a larger 50-point cut depending on upcoming economic data," Dedhia said. "This shift in sentiment is helping stabilize rates and boost borrower confidence."

Meanwhile, Zillow's mortgage rate tracker had the 30-year fixed at 6.59% at 11 a.m. eastern time on Thursday. While that was up basis points on the day, it was lower than the previous week's average of 6.67%.

Lender Price data on the National Mortgage News website showed the 30-year FRM dropped by 10 basis points to 6.48% at the same time, versus 6.58% one week earlier.

In the wake of Powell's speech, Zillow kept to its forecast that further rate declines are unlikely and the 30-year FRM will end the year in the mid-6% range, Kara Ng, senior economist, said in a Aug. 27 commentary.

Ng was also more bearish than Khater on home sales, noting that even with "modest rate relief," affordability remains an issue for consumers.

"More sellers have come off the sidelines this year, but the buyer pool has not kept pace, leading to a growing number of listings and record price cuts," Ng said. "In fact, 27.4% of active listings had price reductions — a new high in Zillow's data since 2018.

First American Financial Senior Economist Sam Williamson's comments on July's pending home sales report, was in line with Ng's views.

The "slight dip in pending homes sales, on both a monthly and annual basis, signals continued buyer caution despite recent improvements in mortgage rates, affordability, and inventory," Williamson said.

Powell's comments are a sign of a more accommodative stance from the Fed that would help by easing borrowing costs and expanding the pool of qualified home buyers.

"But monetary policy moves slowly, and the impact won't be immediate," Williamson said. "For now, caution dominates the housing market, with prospective buyers waiting for clearer signs of economic and financial security before committing."

But other Fed news, namely Pres. Trump's attempt to remove Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud, likely is not having an impact on the housing market.

"Trump's battle to fire Cook has an ironic twist related to housing policy, which we don't expect will reverberate to disrupt the flow of credit or raise mortgage rates, but it could spotlight potential mortgage fraud and the quality of lender controls and loan-level data," said Eric Hagen, an analyst at BTIG, in his weekly mortgage finance roundup released on Aug. 27.