The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet December 17 and 18 and, if they change the benchmark rate, this will affect the costs at which banks access credit. This change can indirectly impact consumer loan costs. Fed rate cuts also drive changes in financial indexes used to set variable HELOC rates.

Rates for 30-year new purchase mortgages fell again, lowering the average to its cheapest level in six weeks. Rates moved lower for almost every other loan type as well.

Falling mortgage rates are expected to kickstart home-buying demand. But buyers will still have to contend with home prices that soared to record highs this year. Here’s what ex

"I expect mortgage rates to stay around 6.875% to 7.125% in December," says Aaron Gordon, a branch manager and senior mortgage loan officer at Guild Mortgage. "We won't likely see big moves downward until we see unemployment go up, less government spending or the Fed jump back into the mortgage market."

Today, the mortgage interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 7.16%, according to Curinos. On a 15-year fixed mortgage, the average rate is 6.30%, and the average rate on a 30-year jumbo mortgage is 7.