Rebecca Jarrett-Dalton, the founder of Two Red Shoes, has predicted 2020 to be the year for refinancing.

Her reasoning? Customers as now expecting more from their lenders in return for their business.

“The lenders who can’t offer the most competitive rate will find themselves quickly broken up with as the act of refinancing becomes a more acceptable means to secure the best deal in town,” she said.

The mortgage broker noted there are a number of “savvy savers” now in the market who are seizing the opportunity they have opened up for themselves through securing a “new, shiny low rate” but making the same repayments as they were originally.

“This is getting these guys ahead by allowing them to build a buffer in an offset account or chipping directly away at the principal,” she flagged.

“It isn’t hard to see why” a number of mortgagors are looking at refinancing, according to the broker.

“The current discounts being offered, particularly on fixed loan rates, are massive!” she exclaimed, highlighting how there are five-year fixed loan rates on offer for as low as 2.7 per cent.

With customers “all over it and locking themselves in”, Ms Jarrett-Dalton said: “The major banks are definitely the ones who are feeling the brunt of customers taking the opportunity to jump ship and find themselves a better deal.

“Small lenders are capitalising on this by staying competitive and flexible.”

She also said these small players “are also quite happy to sit back and watch the big banks come under scrutiny from the media and watch consumers become more and more agitated with the majors”.

“These guys know that while their presence might be limited, they will fight for your business and try to stay relevant in today’s culture by adapting to models such as sustainable lending,” the broker concluded.