Borrowers who refinanced their home loan with another lender in the past year will save an average of A$1908 a year making the switch.

Digital property exchange operator PEXA commissioned Nature Research to survey close to 3000 homeowners with mortgage debt between May and June to find out what was driving the boom in home loan refinancing.

Not surprisingly, the number one reason for refinancing was to get a better interest rate. Seventy-one per cent of respondents said they were anxious about the prospect of rising interest rates.

Other reasons included a recommendation from a broker, change in personal circumstances, planning a renovation and wanting to change to a different type of home loan product. 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported last week that the value of external refinancing, worth around $18 billion a month, is running at record levels.

PEXA found that 31.2 per cent of home loan borrowers have a “refinancing mindset” and around 80 per cent of borrowers who have refinanced over the past year expect to do it again with the next two years.

One surprising finding was that 55 per cent refinanced with their existing lender, despite the smaller savings on offer.

The average rate reduction for a borrower refinancing with their existing lender was 10 basis points, compared with an average 50 bps reduction for external refinancing.