# Refinancing a home loan in Thailand 2026: when, cost, is it worth it

Refinancing a home loan means closing it with your current bank and moving to one charging less. Lenders may add a prepayment fee only in the first three years, so most owners move after year three. The cost is the new mortgage fee, 1% of the amount and at most 200,000 baht; the reduced 0.01% fee does not apply.

## What refinancing is, and when you can do it

The Bank of Thailand describes refinancing simply: you close the debt with your existing lender and borrow the same amount from a new lender on better terms. In practice almost everyone does it for one reason, a lower interest rate.

The timing is set by a single rule, the **prepayment fee**. The central bank has banned this fee on almost every kind of retail loan. Housing loans are the one exception left: a lender may still charge it during the first three years from the signing date, because that is the window where banks hand out the low promotional rate known as a teaser rate.

So if you move before the third year is up, expect a penalty, and the central bank itself warns that refinancing may not pay off when that penalty is larger than the interest you save. Most owners count from the date on their old contract and start collecting offers two or three months before the third year ends.

## What the day actually costs

Refinancing is not a sale, so there is no transfer fee and no specific business tax. But the old mortgage has to be released and a **new mortgage registered** for the new bank at the land office.

- Mortgage registration: the Department of Lands charges 1% of the mortgage amount, capped at 200,000 baht
- Registrations with no declared value, such as the release of the old mortgage, cost tens of baht per plot
- Valuation, duty and credit life insurance, as the new bank sets them
- A penalty from the old bank if you are still inside the first three years

Here is what people get wrong this year. The reduced 0.01% fee that runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 **does not cover refinancing**. The notice gives the discounted mortgage rate only to a mortgage registered in the same act as a sale transfer, with the sale price, the appraised value and the mortgage all at or under 7 million baht, and only for Thai natural persons. Changing banks involves no transfer of ownership, so the mortgage fee is the ordinary 1%.

Rough arithmetic: the new mortgage fee is 1% of the balance you carry across, plus valuation and insurance. If the new rate is at least 1% lower per year, you are even within the first year.

## A state-bank refinance offer in 2026, as a benchmark

GH Bank's refinance product is a useful yardstick for commercial bank offers, because its first stated purpose is releasing a mortgage on land with a building, or on a condominium unit, held by another financial institution.

| Case | Year 1 | Year 2 | Years 3-6 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Credit life insurance taken on the bank's terms | 1.75% | 2.75% | MRR minus 2.495% |
| No insurance, or insurance outside those terms | 2.25% | 3.25% | MRR minus 1.995% |

The number worth comparing is not the first-year rate but the **effective interest rate** over the whole contract. The bank's own worked example, on 1 million baht repaid over 20 years, gives 3.96% for payroll-scheme borrowers and 4.16% for ordinary retail borrowers when the insurance condition is met, rising to 4.23% and 4.44% without it.

Deadlines: applications close on 30 December 2026, and approval plus registration must be done by 29 January 2027. The term runs from 3 to 40 years, and the borrower's age plus the term must not pass 70 years, or 75 for groups that retire later than 60, such as judges and prosecutors. The bank may close the scheme early once the allocation is used up.

## Card and personal debt as well? Consolidate it

If the real burden is not the mortgage rate but other high-interest debt, the central bank allows retail debts to be folded into the home loan. The rules: the rate on the existing home loan may not be raised, and the retail debt brought in may not be charged more than the home loan rate after the promotional period plus 2% per year. It can be arranged together with a move to a new bank.

## What the market looks like on DooAsset

The amount you refinance should be read against today's market, because the new bank values the collateral from scratch. From the listings open on our site today: 423 condos for sale in Bangkok with a median of 7,900,000 baht, and 802 condos for rent with a median of 28,500 baht a month.

Check the real numbers by location on [condos for sale in Bangkok](https://dooasset.com/en/buy/condo/) and compare them with [condo rents](https://dooasset.com/en/rent/condo/). If the new instalment sits well above the rent on a comparable unit, there is still room to negotiate.

## Checklist before you switch

1. Open the old contract and read the signing date and the prepayment clause
2. Ask for the outstanding balance as at the date you plan to redeem
3. Collect written rate offers from at least three banks and compare the effective rate, not the first-year rate
4. Add the mortgage fee, valuation and insurance to the cost of moving, then divide by the annual interest saved to find the break-even point
5. Ask your current bank first; many will cut the rate under a retention deal for a small fee
6. Have income documents and statements ready, because the new bank underwrites it like a fresh loan
7. Book the release and the new mortgage registration at the land office on the same day

## Read next

- [GH Bank home loan: special rate, applications until year end](https://dooasset.com/en/articles/ghb-73-beyond-home-loan-0-73-percent/)
- [Buying a resale condo, from booking to transfer day](https://dooasset.com/en/articles/buying-resale-condo-bangkok-step-by-step/)
- [Land appraisal prices: how to check them and what they are for](https://dooasset.com/en/articles/land-appraisal-price-thailand-how-to-check/)

## Key facts

- Published: 19 Oct 2026
- Author: the DooAsset team
- Topic: Home loans and rates
- Reading time: 5 min
- Facts checked: 19 Oct 2026

## Frequently asked questions

### When can I refinance a home loan in Thailand?

Any time, but most owners wait until the first three years from the signing date are over. That is the only window in which a lender is allowed to charge a prepayment fee on a housing loan, so after it there is no penalty to pay.

### What does refinancing cost?

The big item is the new mortgage registration at the land office, 1% of the mortgage amount and never more than 200,000 baht. Add valuation, duty and credit life insurance as the new bank requires, plus a penalty from the old bank if you are still inside the first three years.

### Does the reduced 0.01% fee apply to refinancing?

No. The discounted mortgage fee is granted only to a mortgage registered in the same act as a sale transfer, where the price, the appraised value and the mortgage are all within 7 million baht and the buyer is a Thai natural person. Changing banks transfers no ownership, so the usual 1% applies.

### Can I fold credit card debt into the refinanced loan?

Yes. The central bank allows retail debts to be consolidated into a home loan. The existing home loan rate may not be raised, and the consolidated retail debt may not be charged more than the home loan rate after the promotional period plus 2% per year. Terms are agreed case by case.

### Which rate should I compare offers on?

Compare the effective interest rate over the whole contract, not the first-year rate, which is usually a promotion. GH Bank's worked example, on 1 million baht over 20 years, lands between 3.96% and 4.44% depending on the borrower type and whether credit life insurance is taken.

## Links

- [This article](https://dooasset.com/en/articles/refinance-home-loan-thailand-2026/)
- [Source: ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย — มาตรการสนับสนุนการรีไฟแนนซ์และการรวมหนี้](https://www.bot.or.th/th/our-roles/special-measures/Debt-Conso.html)
- [Source: ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย — สิทธิของลูกหนี้ที่ควรรู้](https://www.bot.or.th/th/research-and-publications/articles-and-publications/articles/article-2024feb05.html)
- [Source: กรมที่ดิน — ค่าธรรมเนียม ภาษี และอากรในการจดทะเบียนสิทธิและนิติกรรม](https://www.dol.go.th/dol-services/public-service-manual/land-registration/fees-taxes-duties/)
- [Source: กรมที่ดิน — มาตรการลดค่าธรรมเนียมจดทะเบียนโอนและจดจำนองอสังหาริมทรัพย์](https://www.dol.go.th/phichit/press-release/news-1782882171/)
- [Source: ธนาคารอาคารสงเคราะห์ — สินเชื่อบ้านสุขสันต์ ปี 2569](https://www.ghbank.co.th/product-detail/refinance-2569-q1)
- [Bangkok has 65,300 unsold condos, 25,700 of them ready to transfer](https://dooasset.com/en/articles/bangkok-condo-unsold-stock-q3-2026/)
- [Orange Line free rides Dec 2027, fares Jan 2028; Purple South 2030](https://dooasset.com/en/articles/mrt-orange-purple-south-timeline-2026/)
- [Flood relief 2026: 3 ways a damaged home or condo can claim money](https://dooasset.com/en/articles/thailand-flood-relief-2026-three-ways-to-claim/)
- [All articles](https://dooasset.com/en/articles/)

Updated: 19 Oct 2026

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