You should only refinance if it will save you money in the long term. So reducing the length of your mortgage is a great thing to do as it can save you �000's over time.
However most people seem to do the opposite and take equity out of their home,which inevitably means paying more.
Depends on your view point. Why did you buy your own home in the first place? To have something to pass to children/grandchildren, for retirement funds etc etc.. If you have equity in your home and need more cash, you can make it work for you. As long as you're sure you can afford the higher payments, then it's a way of gaining something from your property. We all see our properties increasing in price but that's not actually worth anything unless we make it work for us.