For his part, Lewis says mortgage rates are poised to drop in February, after climbing above 7% in January. “The direction of consumer prices will have the strongest effect on mortgage rates in February. The core inflation rate should decline further, giving bond yields and mortgage rates room to fall, but not by a lot,” says Lewis.

Mortgage rates fell slightly again this week but long-term rates remain in the upper-6% range as the housing market continues to drag, waiting for greater declines.

Freddie Mac reports its Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.89%, pulling back from the 7% level. “The 30-yea

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage continues to slip away from the 7% mark, Freddie Mac said, but experts still expect them to stay higher for longer.

Rates on 15-year new purchase loans fell even more significantly last week, plunging 16 basis points to average 5.98% Friday. Like 30-year loans, 15-year rates sank to a two-year low in September, dropping as far as 4.97% (though the lowest Friday weekly average was 5.07%).

Yet, long term, they will cause mortgage rates to rise as investors demand better returns," said Nicole Rueth, SVP of the Rueth Team Power

The current mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose by 0.01 percentage point in the last week to 6.92%, according to the Mortgage Research Center. Meanwhile, the APR on a 15-year fixed mortgage dropped 0.