Buyer activity does tend to pick up when rates ease; the honest complication is separating that from normal seasonality. Spring runs busier than winter in most markets regardless of rates, and both forces push in the same direction at the same time of year, which makes clean attribution tough. Zoomed out, the pattern is consistent. Rate relief brings some sidelined buyers back and lifts pending contracts and mortgage applications. At the same time, overall transaction volume can stay well below the 2020 to 2021 peaks even after a solid pickup, because affordability and thin inventory still bind. A rebound can be real without being a boom. Nobody can promise where rates head next, so skip trying to time the exact bottom. Watch your own market's pending contracts and days on market, which move first when demand shifts, and follow the daily rate picture on the Mortgage News Daily rate table, right here on our site.