Mortgage rates were little changed this week as the Federal Reserve held benchmark interest rates steady, and investors geared up for a potential extended pause. The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.1% through Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac data, from 6.09% a week earlier. Learn more: How to get the best mortgage rates right nowAfter a dip earlier in January, rates have stabilized at levels near where they spent much of the fall. The Federal Reserve doesn’t directly control mortgage rates, but its interest rate decisions and communications about the future path of rates influence them. Mortgage Bankers Association chief economist Mike Fratantoni said in a statement that following the meeting, the trade group still expects mortgage rates to stay in the 6% to 6.5% range for the “foreseeable future.”“The news from this meeting does not change our forecast for mortgage rates,” Fratantoni said.