By Marie Brown

SACRAMENTO (OBSNews.com) - Mortgage rates are down again, and Americans of all sorts are hoping that more encouraging signs like this will usher in a new era of stability after years of volatility in the Sacramento real estate market.

According to a survey released today by Freddie Mac mortgage interest rates fell to 5.14 percent for the week ending on July 16. The previous week the figure was 5.2 percent.

The record low for the year occurred during the week which ended on April 2. Rates then averaged 4.78 percent. The survey has been in effect since 1971.

For Sacramento real estate watchers this should be good news as the region has seen the extremes of real estate boom as well as bust.

Sacramento real estate broker Patrick McGilvray, president of TheHomeBuyingCenter.com. said that the agents on his team are very busy helping first-time home buyers buy foreclosure houses and also that, "Mortgage refinancing has been very busy this year. Many homeowners are taking advantage of the low rates to refinance their mortgage loans for long-term savings."

McGilvray added, "Refinancing isn't right for everybody, but it's something to look at in terms of trimming monthly expenses in times like these."