Mortgage rates fell sharply this week after a blockbuster report on inflation showed that price pressures may finally be easing.

The arrival of weaker-than-expected October Consumer Price Index (CPI) data was just the sign investors had been waiting for, and markets viewed it as a signal that the Federal Reserve may finally take its foot off the brakes as it determines the path forward for monetary policy. Bond yields tumbled as a result and mortgage rates – which had spent the last few weeks oscillating at or near twenty-year highs – fell by more in one day than they have in at least a decade, and likely a lot longer. The sharp decline was welcome news for first-time buyers waiting for a more affordable entry point, as well as those eager to move and buy their next home. The focus now shifts to what’s ahead and whether the persistent upward trend in mortgage rates may finally be a thing of the past.

While that remains unclear, more signals of waning inflation pressures would almost certainly usher in additional rate declines.