With refinancing volumes up 20% and cost of living biting, brokers who act now will keep the trail
Start with the number that matters most to a mortgage broker: 640,137. That is how many Australian home loans were renegotiated or switched in 2025, according to the ABS – about 20% more than the year before. A majority moved to a different lender entirely. Three cash rate cuts in 2025 reduced repayments automatically for many. A large cohort chose to refinance anyway.
New Ipsos iris data for April confirms the pressure has not eased. The audience for Budget Direct jumped 33.3% month-on-month as consumers searched for cheaper options. Canstar grew 40.6% year-on-year. ShopBack gained 41.9%. These are not abstract traffic figures. They are the fingerprint of a client base actively reassessing every financial commitment, including their home loan. The Ipsos Issues Monitor found that 63% of Australians name cost of living as their primary concern – and they are no longer just worried. They are shopping.
For mortgage brokers, that is a pipeline alert, not background noise.
The wave is running – and the barriers are down
The MFAA's August 2025 survey of more than 300 brokers found that the number of clients helped to refinance had doubled since February 2025. Chief executive Anja Pannek said brokers were reporting "far fewer clients unable to refinance due to serviceability requirements than in any of our previous surveys." The structural barriers that kept cost-pressured borrowers locked in place for two years have eased. The clients who could not refinance before can refinance now – and the cost-of-living squeeze is giving them every reason to.
Importantly, cost of living has now overtaken housing supply and interest rates as the primary concern for borrowers with a neutral financial outlook. These are not clients eagerly upgrading. They are under pressure and looking for relief – exactly the clients most likely to respond to a broker who calls with genuine options.
Trail at risk
Sherlok's analysis found that proactively managing client rates can generate an additional $50,816 in revenue per broker per year from retained trail and new upfront revenue. It recorded an average rate reduction of 0.46% across repricing events, saving Australian homeowners more than $77 million annually.
The inverse matters equally. A broker who does not call a cost-pressured client may watch that client refinance through a competitor or comparison site – and lose the trail. The February 2025 MFAA survey found 98% of brokers reported existing clients returning for finance guidance. The broker who stays in contact is the broker who keeps the business.
Who to call first
The Ipsos data skews heavily to 18 to 39-year-olds – 40% of the Everyday Rewards audience, 51% of OzBargain's. For a broker, the profile is identifiable: first-home buyers from 2020–22 whose fixed rates have likely expired, families managing childcare and rising household costs, and dual-income couples whose monthly surplus has quietly shrunk. These are not disloyal clients. They are waiting clients.
The market is on your side – for now
CommBank's 2026 broker strategy update noted that "rate movements and sharper pricing competition in 2025 raised the bar for what good looks like." Lenders want new business. A broker going back to market for a cost-pressured client today has a genuine prospect of delivering real savings. Equifax's 2025 Mortgage Broker Pulse Survey found 83% of brokers are already prioritising refinancing for existing clients and 72% are specifically targeting borrowers unhappy with their current lender. The brokers capturing this moment are not waiting for annual reviews. They are calling now.
What to do this week
The Ipsos data covers April. It is now May. Clients who were on comparison sites last month are already mid-consideration. The call does not need to be a formal review. It can be brief: has anything changed, is your rate still competitive, can I run the numbers for you this week? In a cost-of-living crisis, that is not a sales call. It is a service.
Clients searching for savings are searching because they have not yet found an adviser who gave them a reason to stop. The broker who calls first is the one who does.
The data is the signal. The call is the action. The trail is the reward.
