Do the lowest mortgage rates since the mid-1950s mean it's a good time to refinance your home loan?

That depends mainly on what rate you have now — and whether you're planning to move anytime soon. Experts advise weighing your options carefully.

Mortgage rates fell this week to their lowest point on records that mortgage company Freddie Mac has kept since 1971. The average for a 30-year fixed-rate loan sank to 4.69 percent. The previous record of 4.71 percent was set in December. Rates for 15-year and five-year mortgages also hit lows.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration's much-maligned program to help struggling homeowners was not meant to keep homeownership at unsustainable levels, and foreclosures are inevitable, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday.

"This program was not designed to prevent foreclosures. It was not designed to sustain homeownership at a level that would be unachievable, imprudent to try and do," Geithner said in testimony to the watchdog panel overseeing the $700 billion bank rescue program.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Taxpayer losses from the U.S. government's $700 billion financial bailout fund will likely come in below the officially projected $105 billion as the economy recovers, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday.

Stressing that the banking system was no longer a drag on growth, Geithner told the Congressional Oversight Panel that estimates of losses from the Troubled Asset Relief Program had fallen steadily, from $341 billion in August to just $105 billion now.

TROUBLED PROGRAM: The Obama administration's flagship effort to help people in danger of losing their homes is falling flat.

DROPOUTS RISE: More than a third of the 1.2 million borrowers who enrolled in the $75 billion mortgage modification program have dropped out. Only about 27 percent have managed to get their loan payments reduced permanently.

OTHER HELP: The Obama administration published statistics showing that nearly half of borrowers who fell out of the program received an alternative loan modification from their lender. About 7 percent fell into foreclosure.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration's flagship effort to help people in danger of losing their homes is falling flat.

More than a third of the 1.24 million borrowers who have enrolled in the $75 billion mortgage modification program have dropped out. That's more than the 27 percent who have managed to have their loan payments reduced to help them keep their homes.

Last month alone, 150,000 borrowers left the program — bringing the total to 436,000 who have exited since it began in March 2009.

WASHINGTON – Barclays Bank said Friday it would sell off its American mortgage collection operation for $1.3 billion in cash, exiting a business it acquired nearly four years ago before the mortgage market went bust.

London-based Barclays said it would sell HomEq Servicing business to West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Ocwen Financial Corp., which specializes in handling loans made to borrowers with weak credit. Barclays has agreed to provide $1 billion in financing for the deal.

WASHINGTON – The number of homeowners dropping out of the Obama administration's main mortgage assistance plan is growing, and is now almost equal to the number who have received permanent relief.

The Treasury Department's report on Monday was the latest evidence of problems in the administration's $75 billion program. While officials insist the program is helping the housing market turn around, critics say it is merely delaying an inevitable surge in foreclosures.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Obama administration's plans to stabilize the housing market and stave off foreclosures is progressing too slowly, a congressional watchdog body said on Wednesday.

"It now seems clear that Treasury's programs, even when they are fully operational, will not reach the overwhelming majority of homeowners in trouble," the Congressional Oversight Panel said in a report.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Hundreds of homeowners trying to avoid losing their homes to foreclosure met with housing counselors and lender representatives at an event in Glendale on Thursday.

At least 500 homeowners met with counselors approved by the federal Housing and Urban Development Department, and then representatives of their lenders. The outreach event was organized by federal agencies under the Obama Administration's Making Home Affordable program.