Despite expectations, mortgage interest rates continue to hover near the lowest levels in about a year. HSH.com's weekly survey shows that the average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell by one basis point (0.01 percent) to 4.19 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates also decreased by one basis points. In its weekly survey, Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, said that a slow week for new economic data and the Memorial Day holiday kept rates from moving much. "No new concerns came to light," he said. "The available information continues to point to a moderate growth pattern and the Federal Reserve remains on course, so we appear to have stabilized for the moment."

Also today, the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 23 showed that the average rate for a 30-year FRM for conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.31 percent, the lowest level since June 2013, from 4.33 percent, with points decreasing to 0.15 from 0.20 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.

In their annual predictions, many economists said that rates would rise throughout the year, topping out at about 5 percent by the end of the year.

Despite extremely favorable rates, mortgage applications decreased 1.2 percent from one week earlier. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 1 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent from one week earlier. Those mortgage refinancings represented 52 percent of total applications from the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 8 percent of total applications.