Refinancing hits record levels

Consumers are enthusiastically refinancing to home loans with lower interest rates, judging by the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Borrowers refinanced a record $19.5 billion of home loans in November, which was 20.4% higher than the year before.

The main reason people switch home loans is to get a lower interest rate – with lenders often giving better deals to new customers, as shown by Reserve Bank data.

In November, new owner-occupier customers taking out variable loans were charged, on average, 0.50 percentage points less than existing customers.

That kind of saving can add up to tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a loan.

Wondering how much you might be able to save? Click here for a quick chat to answer that question as soon as possible.