The three steps to successfully refinance (and save $428 a month) |
The three steps to successfully refinance (and save $428 a month)
February 21, 2026 — 5:01am
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The rate rise has hit hard. On a pretty typical $700,000 mortgage, you’re needing to find almost $110 extra a month now.
So the rush is on to ditch and switch lenders for cheaper ones. Roughly 35,000 home-owning Aussies are now refinancing their mortgages each month, says ABS Lending Indicators data.
Though that number was slightly down in the last quarter, from a record the previous quarter, the value of loans shifted was the highest ever in the three months to December: more than $68 billion.
This is because, far from having to wear rate hikes, there are competitive, quality mortgages out there – while the average variable rate is now about 6.5 per cent, there are loans with real offset accounts (so loans backed by authorised deposit-taking institutions) way down at circa 5.5 per cent.
But not many people realise you must make essential preparations before you apply to refinance. You can’t just submit and hope. Here are the three steps to a successful mortgage refinance.
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