A Massive Refinancing Boom - Seriously

No doubt thousands of Americans were contacting their mortgage brokers today.

For those paying attention, news about the Federal Reserve's decision to cut its key interest rate to nearly zero, had them rushing to refinance to something lower than 5.5 percent.

Many reports have folks locking in rates almost a full percentage point lower than yesterday's quotes.

Across the country, mortgage brokers are reporting a surge of calls from borrowers seeking to take advantage of the Fed's historic decision. Brokers were routinely quoting mortgage rates of close to 4.5 percent for people with good credit.

It was a continuation of the good news since late November for anyone looking to lock in a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage. In the past 3 weeks alone, mortgage applicatons have surged by the greatest amount in history.

"We're going to see just a massive refinancing boom," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, who estimates that up to 10 million U.S. borrowers will wind up refinancing their existing notes.