Mortgage rates showed little movement this week, with the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage nosing higher to 5.22 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.42 discount and origination points.

The average 15-year fixed mortgage inched lower to 4.55 percent and the larger jumbo 30-year fixed rate ticked down to 5.91 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were mostly lower, with the average 1-year ARM backpedalling to 4.86 percent while the 5-year ARM dipped to 4.42 percent.

Three weeks after the Federal Reserve's $1.25 trillion mortgage buyback program came to a close, mortgage rates are largely unaffected. The average 30-year fixed mortgage as of March 31 was 5.23 percent and today it is 5.22 percent. But to keep mortgage rates low, the Fed may need to sharpen the rhetoric about raising interest rates when it becomes necessary to do so. If the Fed instead appears soft, investors could lose confidence in their willingness to keep inflation at bay and mortgage rates would quickly lose their anchor to these historic lows.

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 5.22 percent, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $1,100.69, a savings of $141 per month for a homeowner refinancing now.

SURVEY RESULTS

30-year fixed: 5.22% - up from 5.21% last week (avg. points: 0.42)

15-year fixed: 4.55% - down from 4.56% last week (avg. points: 0.42)

5/1 ARM: 4.42% - down from 4.48% last week (avg. points: 0.35)