Mortgage interest rates are beginning to drop toward 6%, making refinancing a sensible option for more homeowners. 

In fact, a recent report by ICE Mortgage Monitor found that when rates dipped below 6.5% at the beginning of September, the number of highly qualified refinance candidates more than doubled from just a few weeks earlier. 

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, refinance demand for the week ending Sept. 20 was 175% higher than the same week one year ago.

But while lower rates will boost activity, experts say we won't see another pandemic-era refinance boom.

"At the end of the day, it's more of a dripping faucet than a firehouse," said Vickey Barron, a broker at Compass.

Experts anticipate that refinance applications will pick up gradually as mortgage rates keep their downward trend. A recent survey by CNET Money found that while only 4% of US adults would consider purchasing a home or refinancing with a 6% mortgage rate, more than four times as many would consider it with a 5% rate.

Matt Vernon, head of consumer lending at Bank of America, says he's already seen an increase in refinance activity since the Federal Reserve's Sept. 18 rate cut. Still, Vernon doesn't anticipate a major refinancing wave in the next period, but rather "a slow and methodical increase."