How much equity do I need to refinance?

When you choose to refinance your existing home loan, you should take into account the amount of equity you’ve built up in your home. If your equity is less than 20% of the property's value then your new lender will charge you lenders mortgage insurance (LMI).

First up: What is equity?

When you make payments towards the principal amount of your home loan you build up equity in your home. The equity is the difference between your home's value and what you have left to repay on your loan.

This is the money you can expect to remain if you sell your home and repay your loan with the proceeds from the sale.

For example, if you live in a home worth $750,000 and you still have to repay $250,000, you have $500,000 in equity. The equation for equity is given below:

How much equity do I need when refinancing?

Many loans come with a maximum LVR of 95%, which means you cannot borrow more than 95% of the value of your home. What this also means is that if you wish to refinance you must have at least 5% equity in your home.

To put yourself in the best position to refinance, you should have at least 20% equity in your home.

Applying for a refinanced home loan with no equity is difficult unless you can get someone to go guarantor. Find out more about how you can refinance your home loan with little or no equity.

Remember that lenders look at your equity as a means to assess risk. The more equity you have, the lower risk you present to the lender.

Finder survey: When did Australians last compare their home loan interest rate?

What if I don't have at least 20% in equity?

When you choose to refinance without at least 20% equity in your home, there's a good chance you'll have to pay lenders mortgage insurance again. This is because you cannot transfer the existing LMI to the new loan, despite the fact that your previous lender is no longer at risk.

While getting a rebate when you terminate your LMI policy is possible, it’s crucial that you ask for it. Most LMI policies don't offer rebates if you've held your home loan for longer than 12 or 24 months. Even if you do get a rebate, this is usually not for the full amount. If you have to get LMI again, you could pay thousands.

Consider LMI costs in the following examples which use Finder's LMI calculator.

As you can see, the cost of LMI can be highly expensive which can outweigh the value of any savings you could net from switching lenders.

Calculate how a rate rise might affect your loan repayments

What is your repayment type?

Principal and interest

Interest only

What is your remaining loan amount?

$

What is your current interest rate?

%

How much is your rate going up by?

%

What is your loan term?

With a new interest rate of , your monthly repayments will increase by .

You could save a year based on Finder's lowest refinance interest rate of

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Alternative options

Before comparing refinancing options, find out how much equity you have in your home. If you don’t have a 20% deposit saved but aren’t far off the mark, it might make sense to wait until you've built up a higher amount of equity. Check out this helpful guide to paying off your mortgage faster (and thus building equity).

Alternatively, you can consider applying for a guarantor home loan or applying with specialist banks that may have less stringent lending criteria for refinance mortgages.

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Frequently asked questions

• Can you refinance with less than 20% equity?

  Yes, you can refinance with less than 20% equity, but you may need to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI). This is a premium that costs 1-3% of the loan value, so it's a big outlay and can substantially increase the cost of refinancing.

• How much equity do you need to remortgage?

  To remortgage (generally through the process of refinancing), you typically need around 20% equity in your property. Some lenders might allow refinancing with less equity of around 10%, but you'll usually be required to pay lender's mortgage insurance, which adds thousands (or tens of thousands) to the cost of the loan.

• What is the 80/20 rule in refinancing?

  The 80/20 rule in refinancing means you should aim for at least 20% equity in your property, which translates to an 80% loan-to-value ratio (LVR), before you consider refinancing. This helps avoid paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI).

• Is 1% enough to refinance?

  Having 1% equity is typically not enough to refinance, as most lenders require at least 20% equity. Refinancing with such a small amount of equity would likely involve significant costs, such as LMI, and most lenders would find it too risky to offer you a loan worth 99% of the property's value.

Written by

Richard Whitten

Editor

Richard Whitten is a money editor at Finder, and has been covering home loans, property and personal finance for 6+ years. He has written for Yahoo Finance, Money Magazine and Homely; and has appeared on various radio shows nationwide. He holds a Certificate IV in mortgage broking and finance (RG 206), a Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification and a Tier 2 General Advice Deposit Products (RG 146) certification. See full bio

Richard's expertise

Richard has written 562 Finder guides across topics including:

• Home loans
• Property
• Personal finance
• Money-saving tips