Portability and your home loan

A like-for-like substitution is required to substitute your current property for a new one. This means substituting the property being held as security on the loan documents with a property of equal or greater value. The title of the new property must be in the name of at least one or more of the borrowers or guarantors named on the loan contract. If you’re downsizing and reducing your home loan, you may still be able to port your loan.

Please get in touch with your local home loan expert if you want to find out if you're eligible to use home loan portability. If your loan is suitable, you'll need to complete the Property and Security Request Form. We'll then get back to you on your application. You can always start a new home loan application if you're ineligible.

If you have one of our standard home loans, your loan should be eligible, provided your new property meets our security and lending criteria. By keeping the same loan, the same lender, and the same repayments, you'll save on time and effort, making significant cost savings.

Home loan portability is not available for the following:

• Using a commercial property as the substitution of security
• Existing home loans taken out by non-residents
• Home loans with a delinquency history
• Construction loans
• Loans that have a loan increase that has not yet been approved (to be completed before applying for portability)
• Existing relocation or bridging home loans.

If you want to find out if you're eligible to use home loan portability, please get in touch with your local home loan expert. If your loan is suitable, you'll need to complete the Property and Security Request Form. We'll then get back to you on your application.

Home loan portability is a feature that allows you to keep your current loan when buying and selling property by substituting or swapping the property secured against the loan. There are many time and cost-saving benefits to a portable loan, but you should be aware of some cons or minor hiccups before deciding to use this handy feature. Being forearmed is always the best practice when making smart financial decisions.

The pros:

1. Retain the same loan and structure:

• Same interest rate
• Same features and setups, including, if applicable, an offset account, redraw facility or direct debit
• Same loan term, meaning you won't lose the gains you've made on your repayments.

2. You could avoid break costs if you have a fixed rate home loan:

• By only substituting the property held as security on your loan, break fees will not be applicable when you sell and purchase a new property during a fixed term
• You can freely decide to lock in your rate at any time.

3. Save money on exit and new loan application fees:

• Saving money on the potential upfront costs when applying for a new loan is only half the story
• You'll also save on paperwork, preparation time and all the hassles of securing a new loan.

4. You don't even have to have a new property lined up yet:

• If you have a property ready to go and same-day settlement is an option, you can port your loan using simultaneous settlement 
• However, if you haven't found a property or you're not ready to settle yet, you can choose a deferred settlement, porting your loan once you're ready. You'll have up to 6 months to settle*.

The cons (or little hiccups):

1. Your loan may not be eligible. Portability is not available:

• Using a commercial property as the substitution of security
• Existing home loans taken out by non-residents
• Home loans with a delinquency history
• Construction loans
• Loans that have a loan increase that has not yet been approved (to be completed before applying for portability)
• Existing relocation or bridging home loans.

2. Your new property is not of equal value:

• You can apply for a home loan increase before applying to port your loan to cover the new property purchase price costs.

3. I'm ready to buy my new property but haven't sold yet:

• You can look at applying for a relocation or bridging loan to purchase the new property. Then once you've sold your existing home, you can close out the relocation loan.

4. Even though a portability fee is not charged, you may have to pay a discharge fee for your existing mortgage and valuation or transfer fees. However, any applicable fees will be far outweighed by the costs involved with refinancing a new home loan.

You’ll need to apply and finalise the loan increase first before lodging your loan portability application.

You'll need to first apply for a new relocation home loan (or bridging loan) to cover the new property until you sell your current one. Then, once you've sold your property, the relocation loan is closed.

At St.George, we don't charge you a loan portability fee when you swap the security on your loan contract from one property to another. Still, you may have to pay a discharge fee for your existing mortgage and valuation or transfer fees. However, any applicable fees will outweigh your savings on exit fees and upfront costs, including application and establishment fees, the preparation time needed, and the hassles of refinancing a new home loan.

Further, if you have a fixed rate home loan, by using portability when buying and selling, you may not incur break fees if your fixed rate loan term is yet to expire and you’re not changing the loan balance or limit. Add to that the fact there will be no need to change the loan structure, and you've already been paying off your current home loan for some time. You'll be mortgage-free faster than if you'd refinanced and taken out a whole new loan contract. By using our home loans calculators, you'll be able to see for yourself just how taking years off your home loan could save you thousands.