Following the Federal Reserve’s recent meeting to decide on a third round of quantitative easing (QE3), there is a good chance low mortgage rates could go even lower as the housing market continues recovering from its slump.

However, the problem here is that majority of U.S. borrowers may not be able to qualify for these extremely low rates even if now is the best time to “seize the day” and make the most out of recent mortgage rate trends.

According to most experts, there are numerous variables that are precluding these borrowers from qualifying for the low rates, which had reached historically low levels just two months ago. Chief among these variables is credit rating and the number of borrowers whose homes are underwater.

If a homeowner is underwater, this means he or she owes more on his/her property than its actual value. Currently, most borrowers who had become underwater during the housing crisis have yet to recover in earnest.

Hopefully this would change in the aftermath of the Fed’s meeting. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke described the bond-buying plan as a way to “increase downward pressure on interest rates”, which would include, but not be limited to mortgage rates.

$40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities would be purchased back by the Fed per month, and it is expected that refinancing and home buying activity should increase as mortgage rates continue to decrease. Still, most economists remain skeptical as to whether borrowers, particularly underwater homeowners would benefit from QE3, given their continued difficulty in qualifying for low mortgage rates.