Repricing vs refinancing in Singapore
Stay with your bank or move your home loan?
Repricing and refinancing can both change your mortgage package, but they take different routes. Compare the rate, costs, lock-in and future flexibility before deciding which option fits your home and plans.
- Same-bank repricing
- New-bank refinancing
- HDB and private homes
The short answer
The difference is where your mortgage goes.
Repricing keeps the mortgage with your current bank. Refinancing replaces it with a new mortgage from another lender.
Change package. Keep the bank.
Your existing bank offers a different pricing package for the same mortgage relationship.
- No move to another lender
- Usually avoids a new conveyancing transaction
- Choice is limited to packages your bank offers
- A processing or conversion fee may apply
- A fresh lock-in or other conditions may apply
Change package. Change the bank.
A new lender assesses and, if approved, provides a mortgage that redeems your existing loan.
- Allows comparison with other lenders
- Usually involves legal work and valuation
- Subject to the new lender’s assessment
- Existing exit or clawback terms may apply
- The new package creates its own conditions
Side-by-side comparison
Compare the process, cost and freedom to choose.
The exact offer depends on the lender. This framework helps you ask the right questions before accepting either route.
| Comparison point | Repricing | Refinancing |
|---|---|---|
| Lender | Your current bank | A different bank or financial institution |
| Available packages | Limited to packages offered by your bank | Relevant packages available from other lenders |
| Assessment | Your bank applies its prevailing repricing process | The new lender performs its required assessment |
| Legal work | Usually no transfer of the mortgage to another bank | Legal work is generally required to move the mortgage |
| Valuation | Depends on your bank and request | The new lender may require a valuation |
| Possible costs | Processing, conversion or administrative fees may apply | Legal, valuation and existing-loan exit costs may apply |
| Lock-in | The repriced package may create a fresh lock-in | The new package may create a fresh lock-in |
| Best comparison | New rate and terms versus remaining where you are | Net benefit after switching costs versus staying or repricing |
Always rely on your Letter of Offer, Supplemental Letter of Offer and the lender’s current written proposal. Bank processes and terms can change.
What should decide it?
Compare the complete package, not two interest rates.
A cheaper-looking rate can lose its advantage when the costs, lock-in or your property plans are considered.
All-in interest rate
Compare the complete rate, including the applicable benchmark, spread or fixed-rate period—not one component in isolation.
Costs of changing
Include repricing fees, legal work, valuation, redemption charges and subsidy clawbacks where they apply.
Lock-in and exit terms
Check what happens if you sell, refinance, redeem or make a partial repayment during the new package period.
Rate after the initial period
Understand how the package behaves after a fixed period or promotional spread ends.
Property and cash-flow plans
A planned sale, lump-sum repayment or ownership change can make flexibility more important than a small rate difference.
Time and administration
Repricing and refinancing use different processes. Factor in your deadline, notice requirements and readiness to complete the lender’s steps.
Decision starter
Which route deserves a closer look?
Answer three practical questions. This is a planning prompt, not a loan recommendation.
How the decision changes
Different circumstances can point to different comparisons.
These are illustrative situations, not actual SHS client results or recommendations.
A competitive same-bank offer
A homeowner may favour repricing when the bank’s written offer is competitive after fees and provides suitable flexibility without moving the mortgage.
A meaningful net difference
Refinancing may deserve closer review when another lender’s complete package remains more suitable after legal, valuation and exit costs are included.
A possible property sale
If a sale may happen soon, a fresh lock-in or clawback could matter more than a modest rate difference. Staying may also need to remain in the comparison.
Keep three routes on the table: staying on the current package, repricing with the same bank and refinancing elsewhere. The right comparison is between the complete written terms.
A clear comparison process
Get both offers onto the same page.
Use consistent assumptions so a lower instalment is not simply the result of extending the loan tenure.
Read your current terms
Check your rate, balance, tenure, lock-in, redemption notice and subsidy conditions.
Request repricing terms
Ask your bank for its available packages and obtain the important terms in writing.
Compare refinancing
Review relevant alternatives from other lenders using the same balance and tenure.
Choose after net costs
Consider your time horizon, property plans and all applicable costs before accepting an offer.
What to prepare
Start with the facts already in your mortgage documents.
The selected lender will later confirm any formal application requirements.
Current mortgage
- Outstanding loan balance
- Remaining tenure
- Current all-in rate
- Lock-in expiry
- Redemption notice requirement
Existing conditions
- Early-redemption terms
- Subsidy or rebate clawbacks
- Partial-payment conditions
- Existing repricing rights
- Current Letter of Offer
Your plans
- Expected time holding the property
- Possible sale or ownership change
- Planned cash or CPF repayment
- Preferred repayment stability
- Comfortable monthly repayment
Protect your information: do not send NRIC images, Singpass credentials, bank statements or sensitive financial documents through the initial enquiry. Basic loan information is enough to begin.
Common questions
Repricing and refinancing, explained plainly.
Exact fees, dates and eligibility depend on your existing contract and the lender’s current terms.
Repricing means changing to another home loan package offered by your existing bank while keeping the mortgage with that bank.
Refinancing means replacing the existing mortgage with a new loan from another bank or financial institution, subject to the new lender’s assessment and approval.
No. Repricing may involve fewer switching steps, but its rate and terms may differ from alternatives elsewhere. Compare all applicable fees, the new lock-in and the total package over the same period.
No. Available rates depend on the lender, property, loan amount, borrower profile and market conditions. A lower advertised rate is also not the same as a better net outcome after costs.
Repricing generally does not transfer the mortgage to another lender, so it usually avoids the conveyancing work associated with refinancing. Follow your bank’s process and written terms.
Check legal and valuation costs, existing early-redemption charges, subsidy clawbacks, administrative charges and the conditions attached to any new rebate or subsidy.
Yes. A repriced package may introduce a fresh lock-in or other conditions. Read the Supplemental Letter of Offer or equivalent document before accepting it.
Start before your current pricing or lock-in period ends, leaving enough time to check notice requirements and obtain written offers. Your Letter of Offer provides the relevant dates for your mortgage.
Compare both, using the same balance and tenure. A longer tenure can reduce the monthly instalment while increasing the period over which interest is paid.
No. SHS helps you compare relevant considerations and options. Package availability, valuation, eligibility, pricing and approval remain subject to the relevant lender.
Compare before accepting
Put your bank’s repricing offer beside refinancing alternatives.
Share your current lender, outstanding balance and lock-in date. We will use that context to begin reviewing relevant home loan options.