Mortgage rates finally have calmed down, after swinging wildly up and down in the first few months of the year. That good news is amplified by the direction that rates took this week: down. The 30-year fixed had risen (modestly) three weeks in a row. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 3 basis points to 6.13 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders.

-- "Mortgage Rates Dip Slightly this Week," by Holden Lewis, Bankrate.com, May 8, 2008.

Mortgage applications filed last week rose a seasonally adjusted 15.6 percent compared with the previous week, in line with falling mortgage interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

-- "Week-to-week Mortgage Applications up 15.6%," by Amy Hoak, MarketWatch, May 7, 2008.