Refinancing Your Mortgage in Singapore: A 2026 Guide

Refinancing means moving your home loan to a new package. You can switch to another bank (refinancing) or to a new package with your current bank (repricing). In Singapore you should review your loan whenever a lock-in period ends. Rates are far below their 2023 peak, so a borrower who still pays 3% or more after the lock-in can usually save thousands of dollars a year.

At a glance

• Three-month compounded SORA was about 1.2% in early October 2026. Most floating packages were priced at about 1.5–1.8%, and fixed packages at about 2.0–2.2%.
• Rates have started to rise again. Banks raised their offers after the US Federal Reserve raised rates on 16 September 2026, its first increase since 2023.
• Switching within a lock-in usually costs a penalty, for example 1.5% of the loan at DBS. Switching after it costs legal and valuation fees of about S$2,000 to S$3,000, or a repricing fee of about S$500 to S$800.
• A move from an HDB loan to a bank loan is one-way. You cannot go back to an HDB loan later.

How refinancing works in Singapore

Most bank packages have two phases. In the first two or three years, the rate is either fixed or set at a low spread over SORA, and you are locked in. If you repay or move the loan during that time, you pay a penalty. After the lock-in, the rate often rises. That is the time to compare offers.

You have two options:

• Repricing: move to a new package with your current bank. There is no new legal work, so it is quicker: about four to five weeks at DBS, against nine to 13 weeks for a refinance. DBS lets you reprice from four months before the lock-in ends. OCBC allows it from about three months before.
• Refinancing: move the loan to another bank. The new bank values the property, appoints lawyers, and pays off the old loan.

SIBOR and SOR, the old benchmarks that earlier versions of this article discussed, have been discontinued. Floating-rate home loans are now priced off SORA, the Singapore Overnight Rate Average published by MAS, or they are fixed for a period.

When refinancing pays: a worked example

Say you took a fixed package in 2023 when rates were high. The lock-in has ended, and your rate has moved to 3.0%. You owe S$600,000 with 20 years left. A new floating package costs 1.8%.

	Current package	New package
Interest rate	3.0%	1.8%
Monthly payment	S$3,328	S$2,979
Interest paid in the next 2 years	about S$34,700	about S$20,700

The switch cuts your payment by about S$349 a month and saves about S$14,000 in interest over two years.

Now count the costs. If refinancing costs S$3,000 in legal and valuation fees, you recover it in about nine months. If you are still in the lock-in, add a 1.5% penalty of S$9,000 and any legal subsidy you must repay. The break-even then moves out to nearly three years. In that case it is usually better to wait until the lock-in ends.

There is another option. If you keep paying S$3,328 a month at the new rate, you repay the loan in about 17½ years instead of 20.

Costs and traps to check first

Your letter of offer lists the terms. Check these before you sign anything new.

Cost or term	What to expect	Source
Lock-in penalty	DBS: 1.5% of the amount repaid or refinanced. Some packages have no penalty.	DBS
Legal subsidy clawback	If the bank paid your legal fees, you may have to repay them if you leave within the clawback period, often three years	OCBC
Legal and valuation fees for a refinance	About S$2,000 (HDB) to S$3,000 (private), or more. New banks sometimes offer cash rebates.	OCBC; DBS
Repricing fee	About S$800 at DBS; S$500 at OCBC, unless the package gives a free switch	DBS; OCBC
Notice to your current bank	Banks usually need two months’ notice for full repayment or refinancing, and one month for a partial prepayment	ABS guide

Three traps catch people:

1. Comparing only the first year. A package can look cheap in year one and expensive in year three. Compare the rate for every year until you can switch again.
2. Missing the notice date. If you give notice late, you may pay an extra month or two at the old rate.
3. Investment property and TDSR. Refinancing a home you live in is exempt from TDSR. For an investment property, TDSR applies unless you make a capital repayment, shorten the tenure, or commit to reduce the loan by at least 3% within three years. MAS sets no LTV limit on a straight refinance of the amount you owe.

Fixed or floating in 2026?

Floating packages at about 1.5–1.8% are cheaper today than fixed packages at about 2.0–2.2%. The choice is really about risk.

• Floating (SORA-pegged) costs less if rates stay low. Your payment changes every few months.
• Fixed costs more now but protects you if rates rise. In late 2023, three-month compounded SORA was about 3.7–3.8%, and many floating-rate borrowers saw their payments jump.

A simple test: can you afford your payment at 4%? Banks use that rate in the TDSR stress test. If a 4% payment would strain your budget, the extra cost of a fixed rate buys you certainty.

Refinancing an HDB loan to a bank loan

The HDB concessionary loan charges 2.6% a year, which is 0.1 point above the CPF Ordinary Account rate. Bank packages cost about 1.5–1.8% floating and 2.0–2.2% fixed in early October 2026 (The Business Times, 2 Oct 2026), depending on the bank and the lock-in. On a S$400,000 loan with 20 years left, at an example bank rate of 2.0%:

	HDB loan	Bank loan
Rate	2.6%	2.0%
Monthly payment	S$2,139	S$2,024
Interest over 2 years	about S$20,000	about S$15,400

That is about S$4,700 less interest in two years. The saving was larger in mid-2026, when bank rates were lower. Before you switch, think about these points:

• It is one-way. HDB says that once you refinance to a bank, you cannot refinance back to an HDB loan.
• The HDB rate is stable. It moves only with the CPF OA rate. A bank rate can rise above it. At 3.5%, the same S$400,000 loan would cost S$2,320 a month.
• A bank is a commercial lender. If your income is uncertain, the HDB loan’s stability is worth something.

For a household with stable income and savings, a bank loan is often cheaper. For a household that values certainty, the HDB loan may be the better choice. Our HDB loan guide explains how the HDB loan works.

Equity loans and debt consolidation

Earlier versions of this article suggested refinancing to pay off credit cards or large expenses. In Singapore you can do this only on private property, with a mortgage equity withdrawal loan. HDB flats do not qualify. MAS limits these loans to 75% of the property’s value if you have no other housing loan, or 45% if you have one or more. Any CPF used on the property counts towards that limit. TDSR applies unless your total secured borrowing on the property is 50% or less of its value.

Be careful. An equity loan turns short-term debt into debt secured on your home. If you then run up the credit cards again, you are worse off than before.

A refinancing checklist

1. Find your lock-in end date and any legal subsidy clawback in your letter of offer.
2. Ask your bank for a repricing offer three to four months before the lock-in ends.
3. Get two or three refinancing quotes and compare the rate for each year, not only the first year.
4. Add up all the costs and divide by the monthly saving to find your break-even month.
5. Choose fixed or floating by testing your budget at a 4% rate.
6. Give notice on time, and keep paying until the new loan pays off the old one.

Bottom line

In 2026, the biggest refinancing mistake is to do nothing after a lock-in ends. Compare repricing and refinancing offers, count every cost, and check the break-even month. Rates have started to rise, so decide how much rate risk you can carry. Think hard before you leave an HDB loan, because you cannot go back. To see how a new rate changes your payment, use our mortgage calculator. Then read our guides to the factors that affect mortgage rates and choosing a mortgage.

Sources

• S’pore mortgage rates rise following Fed hike: What home owners should look out for — The Business Times, 2 Oct 2026
• CNA Explains: Should Singapore home owners review their mortgages after the Fed’s rate hike? — CNA, 18 Sep 2026
• Home Loan Fees and Charges — DBS (accessed 2 Oct 2026)
• Home loan repricing — DBS (accessed 2 Oct 2026)
• Reprice Your Home Loan — OCBC (accessed 2 Oct 2026)
• Housing Loans: Key Questions to Ask the Bank — Association of Banks in Singapore, updated Aug 2026
• Refinancing Housing Loans — MAS, updated 6 Dec 2019
• Mortgage Equity Withdrawal Loan Rules — MAS, 26 Dec 2018
• MSR and TDSR rules — MAS (checked Oct 2026)
• How do US Fed interest rates impact mortgage rates in Singapore? — PropertyGuru, 28 Nov 2024
• Refinance Your HDB Housing Loan — HDB, updated 15 Jan 2026
• HDB loans guide — gov.sg (My Nice Home), 24 Aug 2026