Mortgage rates pulled back slightly this week, with the average rate on the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate receding to 4.96 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.46 discount and origination points.

The average 15-year fixed mortgage retreated to 4.29 percent, while the larger jumbo 30-year fixed rate bucked the trend, inching higher to 5.59 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were broadly lower, with the average 5-year ARM falling to 3.92 percent and the average 7-year ARM slipping to 4.35 percent.

After showing an almost meteoric rise in the preceding six weeks, mortgage rates pulled back slightly this week, falling below the 5 percent threshold. Investors - including the biggest investor of them all, the Federal Reserve - swooped in and picked up government bonds in the wake of the recent selloff, driving bond yields and mortgage rates lower. Mortgage rates are closely related to yields on long-term government bonds. Mortgage rates will likely hopscotch back and forth over the 5 percent mark in early 2011, but continued economic improvement will see mortgage rates trending higher as the year unfolds.

The last time mortgage rates were above 6 percent was Nov. 2008. At that time, the average rate was 6.33 percent, meaning a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $1,241.86. With the average rate now 4.96 percent, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $1,068.76, a savings of $173 per month for a homeowner refinancing now.

SURVEY RESULTS

30-year fixed: 4.96% - down from 5.00% last week (avg. points: 0.46)

15-year fixed: 4.29% - down from 4.37% last week (avg. points: 0.4)

5/1 ARM: 3.92% - down from 3.95% last week (avg. points: 0.41)