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Lending indicators published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that more than 640,000 home owners refinanced their mortgage last year.
This represents a 20 per cent jump from the previous year.
After a drop in June 2024, all types of refinancing loans have been steadily increasing in both value and number of lodgements.
Internal refinancing (restructuring or replacing an existing loan with a new loan from the same lender) saw the largest percentage increases, with the value of the loans jumping by 37 per cent and the volume of lodgements increasing by 26.8 per cent over the past year.
Australian Banking Association chief executive officer Simon Birmingham said the surge in people refinancing their mortgage was a demonstration of how competitive Australia’s home loan market was at present.
“With more than 640,000 home owners refinancing their mortgages last year, it’s clear Aussies have their eye on the ball when it comes to shopping around for a better deal,” Birmingham said.
“Australian banks offer highly competitive and innovative mortgage products, competing on the latest technology platforms and giving customers more choice.
“Record numbers of mortgage holders refinancing is a demonstration of the wide variety of home loan options customers can choose from.”
Investor refinance at record highs
For both the number of lodgements and value of loans, seasonally adjusted investor refinancing rates are currently at record levels.
In the December quarter of 2025, 15,664 internal investor refinancing loans were lodged, a 7.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase and a 26.8 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
These loans totalled $10.5 billion in value, which was a 9.2 per cent increase on the previous quarter and a 37 per cent increase on Q4 2024.
For external refinance investor loans, 37,277 were lodged, which represent a 0.5 per cent drop from the last quarter but an 11.8 per cent increase on Q4 2024.
These external loans amounted to $25.5 billion, which was up 3.6 per cent on Q3 2025 and up 19.5 per cent on Q4 2024.
Owner-occupier refinancing picking up
Seasonally adjusted, owner-occupier refinancing levels have been picking up, following a sharp decline in June 2023, when the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked the cash rate for the 12th consecutive time.
Since then, external values have recovered but lodgement volumes have remained at lower levels.
In the December quarter (Q4 2025), 47,597 internal refinanced loans were committed for owner-occupier properties, a 4.2 per cent increase on the September quarter (Q3 2025) and a 22.7 per cent increase on Q4 2024.
The value of owner-occupier internal refinance loans totalled $27.1 billion, up 8.2 per cent on the previous quarter and 36.7 per cent from the same quarter last year.
A total of 66,943 external refinance loans were committed for the December 2025 quarter, which is a 0.3 per cent decrease on Q3 2025 but an 8.7 per cent increase compared to Q4 2024.
The value of external owner-occupier loans for the December quarter 2025 was $42.9 billion, up 3.2 per cent on Q3 2025 and 15.5 per cent on Q4 2024.
Birmingham added: “More home owners than ever before renegotiating their mortgage or switching lenders shows how fiercely competitive Australia’s home loan market is.
“The strong competition within the home loan market is loud and clear in this data, with 64 per cent of mortgage holders who refinanced doing so by switching to another lender.
“This is a timely reminder that it can pay to regularly check in with your lender to see if you can get better terms on your home loan or even test the broader market and see what other deals are out there.”
[Related: Brokers remain proactive in refinancing loans]