Craig

Australian's refinanced a total of $9 billion in home mortgages in June with the governor of the RBA saying in a speech back in July that he was pleased to see more people switching banks to take up lower interest rates.

Now, with everyone talking about how to save money, particularly in this current climate, why aren't even more people tackling the biggest expense in their budget, the mortgage, the dreaded mortgage?

Now, we've talked about this before because it feels like a no-brainer to start with the biggest expense first, but oddly, data shows that Australians stay with their bank on average for seven years.

So should we refinance more often and why are so many people leaving money on the table?

Well, here to discuss it this morning is Andrew Wheatley, owner of Wheatley Finance and the FBAA Finance Broker of the Year for 2021.

And a very good morning to you, Andrew.

Welcome back to the Real Estate Breakfast.

Thank you.

Good morning, Craig.

And is the governor of the Reserve Bank correct?

Should Australians, do you think, be refinancing their mortgages more often?

And I think I know the answer to this.

And perhaps people need to think about it like this, Andrew, that it's like when you're courting somebody, a new relationship, everything's amped up.

And then once you're in the relationship, things settle down.

So perhaps we need to be looking for a new relationship with the mortgage.

Yeah, so some good points there, Andrew.

So with Australians sticking with their bank for seven years on average, and I think that there will be a lot of Aussies surprised by that number, what are some of the reasons that you see firsthand for people putting off refinancing?

And-

What would be the one piece of advice that you would give someone when they are thinking about the entirety, I guess, of the mortgage?

What's that one nugget of gold that, above all, here it is?