Mortgage rates take surprising dip

Last summer, as mortgage rates rose to over 6 percent, a sense of inevitability pervaded.

The party was over, it seemed. Historically low interest rates and home prices were vanishing.

Not exactly. On Thursday, Freddie Mac reported that the average rate on a 30-year fixed home mortgage fell for the sixth straight week, to 5.57 percent, the lowest in 10 months.

"I'm surprised that they are at such attractive levels for consumers now," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist with Freddie Mac, a major buyer of U.S. mortgages.

That is good news for home seekers, who are shopping in a market of soaring prices and recent record sales.

Myriad factors have kept rates hovering at historic lows. The stock market still lags, and people continue to invest in bonds, which keeps yields low. Rates were lowered partly in reaction to last week's disappointing employment report, Nothaft said.