By now you've probably heard that mortgage rates are falling like a rock, which will cause everyone to run out and buy a house.

Don't buy it – this financial fiction, not the house.

If you need a house, it's a fine time to buy one.

But don't expect a huge bargain on interest rates.

Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages have climbed back to more than 6 percent.

And if you are purchasing a higher-priced home, the finance rate is closer to 7 percent.

No wonder, then, that mortgage application rates in late February dropped nationwide by almost 20 percent.

Applications inched up a bit in the latest survey.

Still, current home loan costs are well ahead of where housing analysts expected them to be about now.

They've stayed high in spite of continued interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, which are supposed to give the economy a boost.

But the Fed is whacking short-term rates – not the loans people use to finance homes.

And long-term interest rates are driven more by international debt markets and the broader outlook for the economy.

Worries about inflation are also going into that mix – pushing long-term interest rates up.

That's why home loan costs are staying higher than many forecasters predicted.

And with the tighter lending standards, it's costing even more to buy a house than it did a year or two ago.

Of course, home loan rates aren't anywhere near highs we've seen in previous housing cycles.

I still remember when I borrowed at 10 percent and thought I had robbed the bank.

It's not interest rates, but a lack of consumer confidence in the economy and in stable home prices that is hampering today's housing market.

And no amount of jiggering with interest rates will suddenly fix that.

A report out this week that said Dallas-Fort Worth's housing market is undervalued didn't say anything about total housing costs.

Indeed, one reason Texas always fares so well in comparisons of home costs is that they are usually just talking about the price of the house. They don't mention property taxes and insurance.

A 2007 report by AARP found that Texas has the 14th-highest per-capita property taxes in the country – about $1,254. And as a percentage of personal income, Texas property taxes are the ninth-highest, over 4 percent. And Texas has the highest average home insurance premiums in the country: almost $1,400, according to a recent report.

So even if Texas houses are "undervalued," the rest of the cost of homeownership in the state is much higher than the U.S. average.

A new condo project going up in Highland Park will have only six homes.

But the Ravello development's homes will average 4,800 square feet with price tags starting at $3.75 million.

Luxury homebuilder Sharif & Munir is constructing the three-story building at Lomo Alto Drive and Fairway Avenue. Richard Drummond Davis designed the project in an elaborate Italian style.

Each of the high-priced condos will have its own elevator and three parking spaces in a gated underground garage.

Gray & Co. Realtors is collaborating with Sharif & Munir on the project.

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