Interest rates ease with a dramatic drop in home prices

Here's a summary of the current market by Wilfredo Torres--Century 21 Gemini's resident mortgage guru:
"Housing captured headlines last week; unfortunately the news behind the headlines wasn’t good. Sales of existing homes plunged in March by the largest amount in 18 years, falling 8.4%. The decline, which was three-times what had been expected, pushed sales down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.12 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Prospects of a slowing economy and stagnating housing activity kept interest rates under wraps. Mortgage rates eased across the board, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 6.16%, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 5.87%, and the five-year hybrid Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage averaging 5.88% for the week, according to Freddie Mac."