The federal funds rate and mortgage interest rates are often expected to move together, but they haven’t lately. Here’s why.

It's important to understand that the Fed's decision to pause rate cuts will not directly impact mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are actually driven by a range of factors, including the Fed's rate changes. This week's Fed rate decision does, however, have a big influence on where mortgage rates could head.

The Federal Reserve decided to delay additional rate cuts for now and keep interest rates unchanged at its first meeting of the year, giving themselves time to assess whether inflation is cooling and how President Donald Trump’s policies might impact the U.S. economy.

Mortgage rates are largely stuck at 7% for the time being. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that it was holding its benchmark interest rate steady. The 30-year mortgage rate barely budged following the Fed’s announcement,

Heading into today's Fed announcement, we didn't expect to receive any significant surprise on the stance of monetary policy.  Financial markets had long since ruled out the possibility of a rate cut and we knew Powell could only really acknowledge recent progress in inflation data while maintaining that more progress is needed for additional rate cuts.

Friday, ending the week just a few basis points above their lowest level of the new year. Many other loan types also saw steady averages.

These are today's mortgage and refinance rates. Mortgage rates have eased thanks to cooler inflation data, but it's unclear if they'll drop further.

Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth, joined TheStreet to discuss what higher for longer rates means for the economy in 2025. Related: Major housing analyst unveils mortgage forecast ahead of Fed meeting CONWAY GITTENS: So,