Mortgage rates are back to a 3-year low. Should you lock one in now?

Many homebuyers could benefit from locking in a low mortgage rate now, before they rise again. Andrey Popov/AndreyPopov/Getty Images

Mortgage interest rates change each day, and they can be difficult, if not impossible, to time.

Case in point: Mortgage rates, largely in anticipation of a Federal Reserve rate cut, dropped to a three-year low on September 17, averaging just 6.13% for a 30-year term. In the weeks that followed, however, rates increased a bit as the cut had a chance to reverberate throughout the economy. Concerns over inflation and other economic issues also hampered that decline.

But recently, mortgage rates have dropped again , falling in both of the past two weeks after a minor rise in early October. And they dropped back down to that three-year low mark this