Mortgage Rates: Stimulus to Hold Them Low

Interest rates can't stay low forever -- but mortgage watchers now expect rates under 5 percent for the next year, thanks in part to "quantitative easing," the latest scheme from the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy.

The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was just 4.23 percent with a 0.8 percent origination fee, according to the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey from Freddie Mac. That's just a hair above the record low set a few weeks ago.

"I think rates are going to do about what they are doing now," said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist.