Refinancing to drive Aussie mortgage growth in '16

Sydney

REFINANCING will drive Australian mortgage growth in 2016 as borrowers gun for better deals after lenders raised interest rates for the first time in five years and the run-up in home values allows them to increase the size of their loans, a mortgage report by JPMorgan Chase & Co said.

The number of borrowers looking to refinance has increased to almost 35 per cent from 10 per cent in early 2015 as they seek better terms, the report in collaboration with research firm Digital Finance Analytics said on Wednesday.