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Mortgage rates are at the lowest levels most homeowners have seen in their lifetimes, Chuck Jaffe writes today — the same day new data show the rates have taken another step down in the past week. So why isn't everyone rushing to refinance or buy?

Well, rates have been low for a while now and many people have already refinanced. Plus, the decline in home equity means many homeowners believe they won't qualify for the best deals. But Jaffe reports that home-loan experts think people should do their research and seek out the best deals. One area that both sides — lender and consumer — probably ought to be pursuing more, he says, is the Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP), a government program that exists to facilitate refinancing for homeowners that have an existing Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan with little or no equity behind it. Programs like HARP can apply to borrowers with loan-to-value ratios as high as 125%; they have been less successful than most government types expected in terms of drawing consumer interest.

Despite low mortgage rates, refinancing activity has been slow and experts believe consumers seem to be ignoring rate reductions because they don't feel like they'll qualify for good deals. Ironically, this happens at a time when Americans have been paying down debt and, generally, taking steps to improve their credit-worthiness.
Read more: Mortgage rates at record lows, but no re-fi boom.

Worries about the European debt markets push U.S. Treasury bond yields lower — and that in turn helps drive fixed mortgage rates to record lows this week, according to Freddie Mac.
Read more: Mortgage rates drop to new record lows.

http://www.marketwatch.com/m