NEW YORK (MainStreet) – When it comes to mortgage rates, homeowners have been watching just how low they can go and reacting accordingly to historically rock-bottom interest rates.

When rates hit 5%, the rush to refinance was sizeable. When rates fell to 4.5%, the rush to refinance was more substantial. When rates fell to 4%, the rush to refinance was downright staggering. And here we are again, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falling another rung on the ladder, to 3.87%.

With rates at “an all-time record low,” according to Freddie Mac, the rush to refinance may well reach stampede status, especially with good news on jobs (this morning's announcement that the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%), and more bullish sentiment elsewhere on the economic front.

Refinancing, even if you just did it six or nine months ago, certainly makes plenty of financial sense these days. Freddie Mac is out with a report stating that 49% of homeowners who refinanced their mortgages during the fourth quarter of 2011 reduced the principal balance on their mortgages – the highest percentage in 26 years.

The study also shows that the median interest rate reduction was 1.4%, a 26% savings on mortgage interest rates, and during the first year of the newly refinanced loan the average dollar savings totaled $2,700 on a $200,000 home loan.

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With Rates This Low, Should You Refinance Again? - Yahoo! Finance