Americans who have been at all paying attention to the housing market as of late know that home owners with mortgages are struggling. More than ever before, a large percentage of home owners owe more on their home loans than what their homes are worth. Because this issue is so pervasive, the government has been considering a large scale mortgage refinancing program. The program would work something like this - people who are not late on their mortgage payments and not in default or foreclosure could obtain a refinance mortgage rate that is much lower than their current rate. Because today's rates are some of the lowest mortgage rates in recent years, this type of program could help some home owners extensively.

The government has recently done some research into the benefits and costs of this kind of program. On the upside, their research found that lowering a homeowner's refinance mortgage rate would, indeed, prevent foreclosure. In fact, the government's research indicated that were a large scale mortgage refinancing program to be adopted, 111,000 fewer people would default on their home loans. In addition, people who are currently struggling with their mortgage payments would save over $7 billion in the first year of this program alone - the government's evaluation of the program asserts. This would certainly be beneficial for people who are currently paying some of the highest mortgage rates. With some of the lowest mortgage rates, these individuals may be able to get back on their feet and avoid financial problems like foreclosure and bankruptcy.

However, the government also found that a large scale mortgage financing program could also cause some harm. For instance, much of the money saved on the part of the homeowners would be money lost on the part of the investors - investors would lose about $13 to $15 billion. Some of those who have come out against this type of program see the cost as too high. They consider this move to be the one that will further weaken the already-fledgling economy.

Although a large scale mortgage refinancing program may not be reality yet, home owners struggling under high mortgage rates may see if they can obtain some of the lowest mortgage rates in recent history through refinancing. Although it is much harder to refinance today than ever before, some homeowners still qualify. And homeowners who do qualify can end up saving a great deal - so much so that they may be able to avoid default, foreclosure, and bankruptcy. Although the jury is still out on a government-sponsored large scale mortgage refinancing program, refinancing is still an option for today's underwater borrowers.