Mortgage rates drop slightly after four months of rising

Mortgage loan applications may see a rise after falling to 4.8 percent from last week's 4.91 percent.

According to Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, this is the first time in four weeks that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage number has declined, though in the previous month the rate never went above 5 percent.

The survey also found that the 15-year FRMs also declined from last week's 4.13 percent rate.

Though lower rates make it easier for people to finance the cost of moving into a new home, Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac, says the real estate industry is not what it could be.

"The housing market continues to struggle," Nothaft said. "Although housing starts and existing home sales in March were stronger than the market consensus, they were still at low levels."

With existing home sales rising 3.7 percent last month, Lawrence Yun of the National Association of Realtors sees the housing market's vitality differently.

"We're clearly on a recovery path," Yun said.