Why did mortgage rates fall to 7.11%? The drivers behind the fresh low

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 7.11% this week, the lowest reading since late September, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey released Thursday. That is down from 7.18% a week earlier and from the 7.40% peak recorded in early October. For a buyer shopping today, the move is real but modest: on the recent national median home price of $432,900, a buyer putting 20% down finances about $346,320, and the principal and interest payment at 7.11% comes to roughly $2,330 a month. That is about $16 less than last week's rate implied and roughly $68 less than at the October peak. Measured against a year ago, though, affordability is still stretched: the rate stood near…