The mortgage market is screaming gimme shelter as interest rates across the country have been pushed lower by a recent spate of consumer worries.

In the week ended Oct. 31, the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell 15 basis points to 6.52 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point.

This is the lowest the 30-year rate has been since the week of Oct. 7, 1998, when it dropped briefly to 6.46 percent.

So if you've been thinking about buying a new home or refinancing your current mortgage, you may want to lock in today's low rates.

Experts say rates could even drop even further due to the economic slowdown. However when shopping for a mortgage, don't just look at the interest rate, but the total expenses after points and extra fees are tacked on.