According to Freddie Mac, rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans fell from more than 7 percent to 6.6 percent in the week ending Nov. 17.

However, homebuyers shouldn't celebrate just yet.

Many real estate experts see the lower rates as a temporary reprieve, rather than an indication that rates will return to last year's 2 percent and 3 percent ranges. In fact, many expect rates to return to about 7 percent this year.

This week's sharp drop in mortgage rates has opened a window of opportunity for buyers who want to lock in rates. With lower rates, they can save not only on their monthly payments, but also on a significant amount of interest over the life of the loan.

But the good times are unlikely to last long. It is expected that rates are likely to return to 7% in the next few weeks.

The interest rate forbearance will save homebuyers about $100 a month on their mortgage payments - nearly $48,000 in interest over the life of a 30-year fixed-rate loan.

While this is encouraging for buyers who have been grappling with the math of how to make homeownership work, prices are still high and interest rates haven't come down enough to make a big impact.

But most experts believe that the dramatic rise in mortgage rates, which have doubled in the past year, is a thing of the past.

While they expect some volatility in rates, they predict mortgage rates will stay in the 7% range, but not reach 8%.

In the midst of economic uncertainty, there will likely be continued volatility in interest rates.

Mortgage rates rise and fall for a variety of complex, often competing, financial reasons.

As the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates to combat inflation, mortgage rates have similarly soared. Interest rates are also expected to continue to rise as inflation remains high.

Inflation tends to really drive mortgage rates.

However, there are signs that inflation may be tapering off.

Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve scored a victory when it released its October inflation report. Inflation began to cool in earnest, dropping from a high of 9.1% year-over-year in June to 7.7% in October.

That cheered investors, who also played a big role in determining the direction of mortgage rates through the mortgage bond market.

Lenders often bundle the mortgages they make and sell them to investors to free up more cash to make new loans.

When inflation is high, investors seek higher returns when they buy mortgage-backed securities (also known as mortgage bonds) in the form of higher mortgage rates.

As inflation seems to respond to the Fed's actions, they expect the Fed to slow down its rate increases. So there is not as much pressure on interest rates to stay high.

In addition, lenders are doing their best to keep rates low enough to attract customers.

Higher mortgage rates have essentially frozen the housing market.

Combined with still-high home prices, many people who had planned to buy their first home can no longer qualify for a loan. Others were forced to cut their home buying budgets significantly.

Although home prices began to fall, they needed to fall sharply to offset the higher interest rates. As a result, even though many people wanted to become homeowners, they could no longer afford to do so. So home sales are already down.

If interest rates were lowered now, there would be another housing boom and the demand would always be there.

The number of homes for sale also remains extremely low. Builders are worried that they won't find buyers for their homes, so they're slowing down the pace of construction. And sellers, most of whom are also buyers, are reluctant to give up their low mortgage rates and buy homes with new loans at higher rates.

People are attached to their mortgage rates and they are reluctant to be buyers with all the uncertainty.

Despite today's high mortgage rates, they are still much lower than they used to be. rates peaked in 1981, when rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans briefly exceeded 18.5%.