Is a home loan balance transfer worth it?

The costs to add up

• The new lender's processing fee. At the 14 lenders we track, the processing fee on a ₹50 lakh loan runs from ₹10,030 to ₹59,000 with GST. Of these, 6 publish the amount themselves; the rest are our estimates.
• State charges for registering the new loan (stamp duty on the mortgage). They depend on your state: the rates page lists them by state.
• Legal and valuation charges. Ask the new lender for the full list in writing before you apply.
• Charges from your current lender. For a floating-rate loan taken by an individual, no lender may charge for part or full prepayment (for loans sanctioned or renewed from 1 January 2026; older home loans were already protected). Any charge not in your sanction letter or Key Facts Statement cannot be levied.

The break-even sum

Total cost of switching divided by the money you save in a year gives the years to break even. If you may sell the house or repay the loan before then, switching will not pay.

Ask your current lender first

Moving to a lower rate with the same lender usually avoids registering a new mortgage, so ask in writing which charges apply. At the 14 lenders we track, the fee to lower your rate on a ₹50 lakh loan runs from ₹3,540 to ₹29,500 with GST. Of these, 5 publish the amount themselves; the rest are our estimates. The guide linked at the end of this page explains how to ask.

Before you sign with a new lender

• Ask for the Key Facts Statement. Every retail loan sanctioned from 1 October 2024 comes with one, showing the yearly cost (APR) and all charges. A fee not listed in it cannot be charged without your consent.
• Check whether the new rate follows the RBI repo rate or is the lender's own, because that decides how it moves later.
• Do not stretch the loan to cut the EMI without checking the extra interest. More years can cost far more in total.