Here is an interesting note from the Los Angeles Times about the current mortgage rates and how the may change in the coming year.

Housing experts believe that high unemployment and continued home price depreciation in many areas will keep many would-be buyers on the sidelines in 2012. "Remarkably low rates are not enough" to entice buyers worried about the "lack of equity in their properties, poor credit and a weak job market," notes Michael Fratantoni of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Still, those rates will remain historically low this year, according to Freddie Mac, which predicts that interest on 30-year mortgages will average 4.5 percent for the year before rising to 5.4 percent in 2013.

[SOURCES: Los Angeles Times; Information, Inc.]

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate matched its all-time low during the first days of the new year, marking the fifth straight week that the benchmark has averaged under 4 percent. Freddie Mac reports that the rate settled at an average 3.91 percent for the week ended Jan. 5, down from 3.95 percent a week earlier and 4.77 percent a year earlier. The 15-year fixed rate averaged 3.23 percent, meanwhile, down from 3.24 percent a week earlier and 4.13 percent a year earlier.

[SOURCES: Freddie Mac; Information, Inc.]