Homeowners are aiming to cash in over £9,000 of equity gains made over the last year by remortgaging.
They are taking advantage of rising house prices to borrow more money rather than reducing the value of their debt relative to their property price.
The typical customer looking to remortgage in the first quarter of this year had a home worth £248,191, up 7.9% from £230,100 a year earlier, according to the latest Mortgage Search Tracker from Mortgage Advice Bureau, released today.
That is roughly in line with annual house price inflation, giving people an extra £18,091 of property equity.
Over the same period, the average remortgage loan sought also rose from £119,954 to £129,023, but the average LTV remained steady at 52%.
This suggests that rather than leaving the extra £18,091 of equity in their home homeowners are looking to cash in some of their equity gains by remortgaging.
It means they will borrow £9,069 more on average than a year ago.
As well as seeking bigger loans, customers looking to remortgage are also increasingly keen to stretch their repayments over longer terms.
While 76% searched for a minimum 25-year loan term in Q1 2014, this jumped to 86% in the first quarter of this year.
Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: "Releasing cash is often a major incentive for people to consider remortgaging, whether to consolidate other debts, pay for home improvements or finance other spending.
"The fact that many people's properties have gained in value over the last year offers some the chance to take the same percentage loan that they would have done if they remortgaged 12 months ago and give themselves a significant cash boost.
"Another benefit of rising house prices is that fewer people will be trapped in negative equity and more people will be in a position to negotiate a remortgage deal. Those who are not motivated to release cash can still make big gains by cutting their rates by taking their pick of the attractive deals on offer."
The date also shows how the mortgage market has become more challenging over the last year for borrowers with previous credit problems.
The percentage of customers citing past credit difficulties when searching for a purchase mortgage dropped from 3% in Q1 2014 to less than 1% this year.
There was an even bigger shift among remortgage customers, where the percentage reporting past difficulties dropped from 6% to less than 1% over the same period.
This trend suggests that fewer customers with past difficulties have been motivated to seek a new loan since the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) took effect, or are less included to disclose an imperfect credit history when investigating a mortgage deal online.
Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: "The MMR rules certainly make some types of borrower search harder for a deal to suit their needs and personal circumstances.
"But many borrowers can take comfort from the growing number of specialist lenders on the market which has boosted the product range.
"These new lenders operate safely within the affordability rules, and are often more willing than some mainstream brands to cater for people with an acceptable blemish on their credit record."
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