Borrowers switching loans to access lower interest rates.

Borrowers are taking out fewer new loans than a year ago but refinancing existing loans at a much higher rate.

Owner-occupiers and investors did $20.6 billion of external refinancing (i.e. with new lenders) in August, which was 12.4% higher than the year before, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The reason so many people are refinancing right now is because of the strong opportunity to qualify for lower interest rates with other lenders.

At the same time, borrowers took out $24.8 billion of new home loans in August, which was 9.4% lower than the year before.

Breaking down those figures:

77% of new loans were used to buy existing properties.

11% were used to build new homes.

5% were used to buy new homes.

4% were used to buy land.

3% were used for renovations and additions.

Get in touch if you’d like to refinance to a lower interest rate, buy a property or renovate your current home. I’ll compare home loans for you and manage your loan application. That way, you’ll be confident of getting a competitive home loan while doing very little of the work yourself.

Contact Amol from Juice Finance on 0435 040 986 or go to www.juicefinance.com.au and click ‘Get Started’ to find out more.