How Much Does It Cost to Refinance in Australia?

The short answer

Refinancing a home loan in Australia usually costs roughly $500 to $1,500 in switching fees: a discharge fee from your old lender (commonly $150–$500), a state government mortgage registration/discharge fee (around $160–$230 each), plus any application, valuation or settlement fees from the new lender. The cost jumps sharply if your loan is above 80% LVR, where you may pay a fresh Lenders Mortgage Insurance premium of several thousand dollars, or if you break a fixed-rate loan, where break costs can run into the thousands. Refinancing does not attract stamp duty, because you are not buying property.

How refinancing costs work in Australia

Refinancing means closing your existing loan and opening a new one, sometimes with a different lender, sometimes with the same one. The costs fall into a few buckets:

Cost	Typical range (2025-26)	Who charges it
Discharge / exit fee	$150–$500	Your current lender
Mortgage registration (discharge of old + register new)	~$160–$230 each	State land titles office
Application / establishment / settlement fee	$0–$1,000	New lender
Property valuation	$0–$400 (often waived)	New lender
Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI)	$0 if LVR ≤ 80%; otherwise a new premium	Insurer, via new lender
Fixed-rate break cost	$0 on variable; potentially $1,000s on fixed	Current lender

A few Australian specifics worth knowing:

• Exit fees were banned on variable-rate loans taken out after 1 July 2011, but lenders can still charge a "discharge fee" to cover reasonable admin costs. See ASIC's Switching home loans guide.
• LMI is not portable. If you originally paid LMI and your loan is still above 80% LVR, you generally pay it again with the new lender. If you are within a few years of the original loan, ask your old insurer about a partial LMI refund.
• Break costs apply to fixed loans. If you exit a fixed rate early, the lender can recover its loss, and per Moneysmart, the more rates have fallen since you fixed, the higher the break fee.
• No stamp duty. Transfer (stamp) duty is a purchase tax, so refinancing avoids it entirely.

Worked example

Say you have a $600,000 loan on a home now worth $750,000. Your LVR is $600,000 ÷ $750,000 = 80%, so no new LMI is triggered. You're on a variable rate, so there's no break cost. Your switching costs might look like:

Item	Amount
Discharge fee (old lender)	$350
Discharge of old mortgage (titles office)	$180
Registration of new mortgage (titles office)	$180
New lender application/settlement fee	$300
Valuation	$0 (waived)
Total to switch	≈ $1,010

Now compare against the saving. On a $600k loan over 30 years, dropping from 6.5% to 5.5% changes the monthly repayment meaningfully: a 1% cut on a standard $600k @ 6% loan (≈ $3,597/month baseline) frees up a few hundred dollars a month. At a saving of, say, ~$370/month, you recover the ~$1,010 switching cost in under three months, and after that it's net benefit. ASIC's mortgage switching calculator frames it the same way: how long to recover the cost of switching.

The picture flips if you're above 80% LVR. On a $600k loan at 90% LVR, a fresh LMI premium is roughly 1.79% (≈ $10,740). That alone can wipe out years of interest savings, so refinancing at high LVR rarely stacks up.

Model this in True Loan

You can pressure-test a refinance in True Loan without giving away any details; the calculator runs entirely in your browser.

• Set the loan amount, rate and remaining term to your new loan. If you'd keep the same payoff date rather than resetting to a fresh 30 years, shorten the term accordingly, which is where a lot of the real saving lives.
• Note the total interest and total cost over the life of the loan.
• Use the /compare tool to put your current loan beside the refinanced one, side by side.
• If you'll park savings in an offset, use the dedicated Offset balance input (interest accrues on loan minus offset). If you'll instead pay more each month, use the separate Extra repayment ($/month) input.
• Check the LVR on the timeline to confirm whether you're above or below 80%, since that decides whether LMI re-enters the maths.

Whether the switch is worth it for a 0.5% lower rate comes down to the saving versus the switching costs above.

Common questions and mistakes

Do I pay stamp duty when I refinance? No. Stamp duty applies to buying property, not to changing loans.

Will I have to pay LMI again? Only if your new loan is above 80% LVR. At ≤ 80%, LMI is zero. It isn't transferable between lenders.

What's the most overlooked cost? Fixed-rate break costs. They don't show on a fee schedule, so you have to ask your lender for a current figure.

Does refinancing reset my loan term? It can. Many people refinance into a new 30-year term and pay more total interest despite a lower rate. Match the term or add extra repayments to avoid this.

Is "cashback" free money? Lender cashback offers can offset switching costs, but compare the ongoing rate and fees: a slightly higher rate can cost more than the cashback over time.

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Figures are estimates for the 2025-26 financial year and vary by lender and state. Always confirm current fees with your lender and your state land titles office, and check moneysmart.gov.au. This is general information, not financial or credit advice.