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I am a regular participant in the Bankrate.com Mortgage Rate Trend survey and this week's survey is now available.

The Bankrate.com survey is for conforming mortgages.  It does not apply to FHA mortgages, VA mortgages, or jumbo mortgages.  However, I do lend on all of these loan types in all 50 states -- email me for a rate quote.

Anyway, here are the group's predictions for the next 30 days:

I am predicting that rates will remain unchanged over the next 30 days, but don't necessarily follow my advice when choosing whether to lock a mortgage rate, or float one.  My advice may not be appropriate for your individual situation.

From the Bankrate.com survey:

"If markets moved solely on fundamentals right now, mortgage rates would be rising. Instead, they're flat."

If market were reacting to the economic fundamentals of today, they'd be taking a major defensive stance against long-term inflation.  The budget deficit surpassed an all-time high last month and with each passing week, the government seems to introduce a new wave of spending -- for banks, Detroit, or otherwise.

When the Federal Reserve prints money to service debts, it devalues every dollar in circulation.  This is because of money supply's correlation to inflation and if this topic interests you, you can read about it sometime.  Or, you can just take my word for it --  more money = more inflation. 

The same goes for government stimulus.  With each kickstart, it becomes more likely that the economy will kick into overdrive in the very near future.  It may seem unlikely right now, but inflation will return.  Maybe as soon as mid-2009.

Now, inflation, you may remember, is the enemy of bonds.  This is because bonds are repaid in a fixed dollar amount and inflation erodes the values of those repayments.  So, when inflation is present, bond prices fall on dwindling demand, pushing yields up.

This is what we should be seeing in mortgages right now.  Instead, markets appear to be suffering from a major case of myopia that even Karen can't treat.  With attention on the immediate-term issues plaguing the economy, money is flowing into bonds where common sense says it should be flowing out.

For now, however, mortgage rates appear to be in balance, hovering near 5.500 percent, give or take a little bit.  Some days we're better, some days we're worse, but for the most part, we keep coming back. 

For tuned-in mortgage rate shoppers, a pattern like this may signal when it's time to lock a rate, and when it's time to float it.  Or, you could just play it conservative and lock right now -- sooner or later, Wall Street will turn its attention to inflation and rates will suffer.

In the meanwhile, stay up-to-date on what mortgage rates are doing using my Twitter feed. Get near-real time market updates and intra-day commentary at http://www.twitter.com/mortgagereports.

Dan Green is an active loan officer. Email or call 513-443-2020. Dan is on Twitter at @mortgagereports.