Reprice or Refinance? The Full Cost Table on a S$1,000,000 Loan

Most homeowners treat "should I move my home loan?" as a single question: which bank has the lowest rate. That is the wrong first question. Before the rate, there is a fork — reprice (stay with your current bank on a new package) or refinance (move the loan to another bank) — and the two differ less on the headline rate than on cost, friction, and how long the decision ties you down. Get the fork wrong and a "cheaper rate" quietly costs you a subsidy clawback, six weeks of paperwork, or a penalty you did not know you were still inside. Methodology published. No spin.

Mid-2026 makes this live for almost everyone. Three-month compounded SORA is around 1.13%, fixed packages start from about 1.40%, and floating packages start near 0.2% plus SORA — with some deals now priced below the 2.60% HDB concessionary rate. Anyone whose promotional rate has lapsed is very likely paying more than they need to. The question is not whether to act, but how.

Two moves, not one

Repricing keeps you with your current bank on a new package. There is no lawyer and no valuation — just a flat conversion or admin fee, typically around S$500, and the switch completes in one to two weeks.

Refinancing moves the loan to a new bank. That means a fresh legal conveyance (roughly S$2,500) and a valuation (around S$300 to S$500), and it takes six to eight weeks. Crucially, the new bank usually subsidises those costs if your loan is large enough — on private property, broadly a remaining loan of S$500,000 or more — handing back a legal subsidy or cash rebate. That subsidy is the hook. It comes with a string attached: a clawback.

The full cost table

Worked on a S$1,000,000 loan

Take a real-shaped case: S$1,000,000 outstanding, 25 years remaining, currently on a rate that has reverted to 2.80% now that the promo has expired. Two offers are on the table — the current bank will reprice to 1.90%, and another bank will take the loan at 1.40%.

Every figure here is computed on the loan, not estimated. In the first year, repricing saves about S$5,400 and refinancing about S$8,200; refinancing beats repricing by S$237 a month, or roughly S$2,850 a year. On interest alone, the first-year interest bill falls from S$27,642 at 2.80% to S$18,726 if you reprice, or S$13,785 if you refinance.

The breakeven is fast — the clawback is the catch

The upfront costs are trivial against those savings. The S$500 reprice fee pays back in about one month. Refinancing costs roughly S$2,900 gross (legal plus valuation), but with a ~S$2,000 subsidy the net is about S$1,300 — recovered in under two months against the current rate. On cost alone, refinancing wins.

The catch is the clawback. That ~S$2,000 subsidy is repayable if you redeem or move the loan within about three years. So the refinance advantage is only truly banked if you stay put for the full clawback window. Over three years, refinancing nets about S$23,400 against staying, versus about S$15,700 for repricing — refinancing ahead by roughly S$7,700 — but only if nothing forces you out early. Sell the property, decouple, or jump to a better rate in month 20 and you hand the subsidy back, which erases much of the edge.

Lock-in: the other clock

Separate from the clawback is your current package's lock-in. Most packages lock you in for two to three years; redeem inside that window — by repricing to a rival package or refinancing away — and the bank charges about 1.5% of the outstanding loan. On S$1,000,000 that is S$15,000, which torches an entire year and more of savings. The move only makes sense once you are out of lock-in, or within the roughly three-month window before it lifts, when banks let you lock a new rate to take effect the day the penalty ends. Rule one of this whole exercise: find your lock-in expiry date before you shop.

When each one wins

Reprice when you are still inside a lock-in and simply want a better rate with no penalty exposure; when your loan is small enough that no bank will subsidise a refinance, so you would pay the legal cost out of pocket; when you value speed and zero paperwork; or when you might sell or restructure within three years and do not want a clawback hanging over you.

Refinance when you are out of lock-in, your loan is large enough to attract a subsidy (broadly S$500,000 or more on private property), the rate gap is real — here, half a percent between the two offers — and you are confident you will hold the loan past the clawback window.

The rate is the headline. The decision is the fork underneath it: how much it costs to switch, how long the money stays committed, and whether you will still be here when the savings actually land. Run the table before you run to the lowest number. Methodology published. No spin.

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Sources: Rate context (three-month compounded SORA ~1.13%; fixed from ~1.40%; floating from ~0.2% + SORA; sub-2.60% packages) per PropertyGuru and lender comparison tables, July 2026. Repricing and refinancing fees, subsidies, clawback and lock-in mechanics per DollarBack Mortgage and Redbrick. Monthly instalments, interest, breakeven and three-year figures computed by TRIBE on a S$1,000,000 loan over 25 years at the stated rates; the 2.80% / 1.90% / 1.40% package is an illustrative worked example. Bank fees, subsidies and lock-in terms vary by lender and change often — confirm current figures with your banker or mortgage broker before acting.

Silas Tan is a District Director at Huttons Asia and co-founder of TRIBE. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. CEA Registration R000303I.