Following last week’s jump, mortgage rates pulled back this week, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate sliding to 3.59 percent, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.34 discount and origination points.

The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 2.87 percent and the larger jumbo 30-year mortgage held at 4.07 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were mixed, with the popular five-year ARM inching lower to 2.77 percent, while the three-year and seven-year ARMs were a touch higher, both to 2.95 percent. 

Mortgage rates pulled back this week as worries re-emerged about the approaching fiscal cliff. The prospects for an economic slowdown – or outright recession – should the U.S. go over the fiscal cliff for any length of time helps drive demand for the safety and security of U.S. government bonds. Mortgage rates are closely related to yields on long-term government bonds.

The last time mortgage rates were above 5 percent was April 2011.