Most of those home buyers realize that the longer they delay a purchase, the greater will be their mortgage interest rate and thus their monthly payment. They want to take advantage of rates that are still at historic low levels. Even though all housing and financial experts are predicting rising mortgage rates, those rates occasionally drop a bit before continuing their climb. This presents a temporary ?window of opportunity? for mortgage applicants.

As of March 1, we are in one of those interest-dropping periods. Mortgage interest rates have dropped for the first time in five weeks, according Freddie Mac. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has dropped to 6.26, with 0.6 points (fees). The average one-year adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) rate is 5.32 percent, with 0.7 points. The 5-year hybrid ARM (with a fixed rate for the first five years) carries an average rate of 5.96 percent, with 0.6 points.

?Soft inflation figures and market confidence that the Fed will continue to keep inflation low is keeping mortgage rates in check,? said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. ?Over the long term, we expect mortgage rates to continue bouncing back and forth from time to time.?