Mortgage interest rates moved in opposite directions, but one benchmark rate saw a decline. Rates change on an hourly, daily and weekly basis.

Mortgage rates need to get below 6% to reinvigorate the frosty housing market, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6% would make the median-priced home affordable for about 5.5 million more households, NAR economists shared at the July 16 Real Estate Forecast Summit.

Mortgage rates will probably stay about the same in August. If they change, they're more likely to go down than up. Even if mortgage rates fall a little bit, it won't be enough to wake up the sleepy housing market. When would-be home buyers dream, visions of mortgage rates below 6.5% dance in their heads. But rates won't fall that low in August.