Home loan costs, side by side
The initiation and monthly service fees South African banks publish for a home loan, copied from each lender's own pricing guide and linked back to it, plus what your repayment comes to at the rate you enter. Home loan rates are set per applicant, so you put in prime plus or minus your offer. The table is in lender-name order — we don't rank or recommend.
- 7 lenders
- 4 of 7 with published fees
- Prime 10.75% since September 2026
- Fee caps R6 037.50 initiation, R69 a month
- Last checked
Monthly total (repayment + service fee)
Your rate: prime 10.75% + 0.00% = 10.75% a year.
Lender-name order, not a ranking. Sort the table and the chart follows.
| Lender | Product | Initiation fee | Monthly service fee | Published rate | Repayment | Monthly total | Total over the term | Notes | Source | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absa | Home loan | R6 037.50 | Data pending | Personalised - set from your credit profile when you sign | R15 228 | Data pending | Data pending | Absa says the initiation fee is once-off and can be paid up front or added to the loan after registration. It charges a monthly administration fee but the page gives no amount. Its rates page says home loan rates vary with your credit profile. | Absa - The real cost of buying a home | |
| Capitec | Home loan | Data pending | Data pending | Data pending | R15 228 | Data pending | Data pending | Capitec's site blocked our check on 2 Nov 2026, so no figure is shown. | Capitec home loans page | |
| FNB | Home loan | Data pending | Data pending | Data pending | R15 228 | Data pending | Data pending | FNB's site blocked our check on 2 Nov 2026 (browser check), and its 2026 home loan pricing guide was not at the usual address, so no figure is shown. | FNB home loans page | |
| Nedbank | Home loan | R6 037 | R69 | Not published in the pricing guide | R15 228 | R15 297 | R3 677 421 | Fees include VAT, effective 1 Jan 2026. Initiation fee charged on all applications except re-advances, paid up front or added to the loan. Juristic clients R230 a month (from 17 Oct 2026). Cash deposits into the home loan R100 + R2.85 per R100. | Nedbank Home Loans pricing guide 2026 | |
| RMB Private Bank | Home loan | R6 037.50 | R69 | Not published in the pricing guide | R15 228 | R15 297 | R3 677 422 | A division of FirstRand Bank. R69 a month applies to a new credit agreement. The fee is charged whatever the balance and stops only when the account closes. Initiation fee on all mortgage agreements and refinancing. | RMB Home and Structured Lending pricing guide, 1 Jul 2026 - 30 Jun 2027 | |
| SA Home Loans | Home loan | Data pending | Data pending | Data pending | R15 228 | Data pending | Data pending | SA Home Loans says it never asks for fees or money up front, but its site publishes no initiation or monthly fee amounts. | SA Home Loans home page | |
| Standard Bank | Home loan | R6 037.50 | R69 | Not published in the pricing guide | R15 228 | R15 297 | R3 677 422 | Fees unchanged for 2026. R69 a month is for loans entered into after 6 May 2016 (older accounts R5.75 to R340). Juristic entities (company, CC or trust) R13 110 initiation and R240 a month. | Standard Bank Home Loans pricing guide 2026 |
Fees are as each lender publishes them, including VAT, for a home loan to a person (not a company or trust). "Repayment" is the standard monthly instalment on the loan amount, term and rate above - the same rate for every lender, because none publishes one. "Monthly total" adds the lender's service fee; "Total over the term" is every monthly total plus the initiation fee. Click a heading to sort; click again to reverse, a third time for lender order.
How to read the table
- Prime is 10.75% a year, since the Reserve Bank raised the repo rate by 0.25% to 7.25% on 23 September 2026; banks set prime 3.5% above repo (Trading Economics, checked 2 November 2026). The next rate decision is due on 19 November 2026 (SARB).
- The law caps a home loan initiation fee at R5 250 before VAT - R6 037.50 with VAT: R1 100 plus 10% of the loan above R10 000, up to that maximum. The R1 207.50 figure often quoted is the cap for unsecured loans, not home loans (National Credit Regulations, reg. 42, checked 2 November 2026).
- The monthly service fee is capped at R60 before VAT - R69 with VAT (National Credit Regulations, reg. 44).
- The highest interest a home loan may charge is the repo rate plus 12% - 19.25% a year at today's repo rate (reg. 42).
- Transfer duty is 0% on a home up to R1 210 000, then 3% of the price above that up to R1 663 800, rising in bands to 13% above R13 310 000. The table is unchanged from 1 April 2026 (SARS, checked 2 November 2026).
- Bond registration and transfer attorney fees are not in the table - they are charged by the conveyancer, not the bank, and we found no lender page that publishes them. Some banks offer up to 50% off the bond registration fee for first-time buyers (Standard Bank and Nedbank pricing guides).
- A figure we could not read off the lender's own page shows "Data pending" - we leave it blank rather than guess.
Facts, not advice. This is published fee information and a standard repayment sum, shown side by side. MaxWealth does not rank, recommend or sell any home loan, and is not paid by any bank or bond originator. Your rate depends on your credit profile and deposit - confirm the full cost with the lender before you sign.