Lowest Interest Rates Ever Recorded, Again

Average interest rates for home loans have never been lower -- at least not since the economists at Freddie Mac first started keeping track in 1971.

The average interest rate for a 30-year home fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.71 percent, according to the Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released December 3.

That's a steep drop from last year at this time, when the average rate was 5.53 percent. And that's a steep drop from 6.03 percent, the average interest rate for all of 2008, which was in turn a steep drop from 2007's rate of 6.34 percent, which was... you get the idea.

It feels like we may never hear the words "interest rates" again without also hearing the words "historic low"... well, unless we're talking about credits cards. So how long can this keep going on?