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

As a reminder:

1. The survey is for conforming loans only.
2. I welcome emails from readers about purchase or refinance plans.
3. I twitter market updates a few times daily.  Follow me, if you want.

Anyway, on to the group's predictions for the next 30 days:

• 50% of participants predict rates will increase
• 31% of participants predict rates will decrease
• 19% of participants predict rates will remain unchanged

I am predicting that rates will decrease over the next 30 days, but that doesn't mean you should necessarily follow my advice when choosing whether to lock a rate, or float it.  My advice may not be appropriate for your individual situation.

From the Bankrate.com survey:

"Gas prices down means inflation pressures subside, leading mortgage rates lower."

The gas-price-to-mortgage-rate relationship isn't direct, but rising prices have had a psychological impact on both Wall Street and Main Street.  We should expect that falling prices would do the same.

I've been using Twitter to communicate the mid-day market shifts to clients and there's been a lot of them.  It's simple to set up and completely non-intrusive.  You're welcome to follow me if you'd like the updates, too.

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