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In a new report out Thursday, the Urban Institute identified the top five forces that have contributed to the consistent downward trend of mortgage interest rates over the last year and a half.

According to Metro Trends writers Ellen Seidman and Wei Li, the five main factors are: slow growth and turmoil abroad; upheaval in the oil market; the steady improvement of the US economy; low Treasury rates; and reduced demand for mortgages.

“There certainly are forces pushing mortgage interest rates in the opposite direction, most notably the tapering of the Federal Reserve’s purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS),” Seidman and Li wrote. “But so far, these forces have not been sufficient to shop the downward trend in mortgage interest rates.”

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Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey shows increasing optimism in the market, as employment and economic conditions have improved.

29% of respondents stated that their income has increased significantly over the last 12 months.

48% of respondents said that they expect their financial position to improve in the next year.

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According to a new report by The Wall Street Journal, the housing market is beginning to see signs of improvement, and much of that has to do with the current growth in consumer confidence.

As the paper points out, new home sales have picked up significantly from last year, with one builder – Taylor Morrison Home Corp. – reporting a 30 percent increase from last year.

“I’ve got to tell you right now, I feel pretty good about what we see in the market in January and how everybody is reacting,” Larry Nicholson, CEO of Ryland, told the paper earlier this month. “I see a lot more positives this year before the Super Bowl than I have in the past, quite a few.”

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Google can now help you out in your mortgage-related endeavors, as the search engine has just launched a brand new mortgage calculator.

According to CNBC, the calculator can help you figure out how much mortgage you can afford, or switch tabs and input the required info, and it’ll tell you the total cost of your mortgage and monthly payments.

“Preparing for homeownership just got a bit easier,” Google announced on Tuesday. “Starting today you can ask Google things like ‘How much can I borrow at $200 a month?’ or ‘At 5% APR how much can I borrow over 10 years?’ You can even adjust the mortgage amount, interest rate, mortgage period and more to see which financial options fit your needs.”

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