Refinancing a London home

Middlesex & Elgin average residential price, London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (via CREA) put the London average at <strong>$590,550</strong> for August 2026. For a mortgage refinance that makes the equity reachable at 80% ltv about <strong>$177,165</strong> (above an assumed 50%-LTV first mortgage). The same board counted 526 London sales in August 2026. Your own property and balance replace these numbers on the file.

On each market's own cited figure, the equity reachable at 80% ltv is $177,165 in London against Brantford $207,629 (average $692,096); Windsor $162,305 (average $541,019); Sarnia $160,745 (average $535,819). The comparison is the same arithmetic on a different price, which is why moving the search one municipality over changes the file before it changes the rate — lenders price the same product the same way across Ontario.

On a London home valued at the $590,550 average, a typical refinance client can access up to $177,165 of usable equity, assuming an existing first-mortgage balance around 50% LTV.

On a London home valued at the $590,550 average with an assumed first mortgage near 50% LTV, a refinance can unlock about $177,165 at 80% LTV — roughly $872/mo at 4.29% on a full draw. The figure scales with your actual value and existing balance.

A local broker knows Southwest ON's property types and which of our 100+ lenders price refinance files best in London — from Old North and Westmount condos to detached stock — and there's no fee to you on A-lender files. The regional lenders on that panel are listed under the neighbourhood table above.

Up to <strong>80% of appraised value, less what you still owe</strong>. A refinance cannot be default-insured, so 80% is a hard ceiling rather than a pricing tier. On a London home at the $590,550 average that ceiling is $472,440; against a $295,275 balance — the 50%-LTV position we model here — that is $177,165 reachable before the penalty and roughly $1,750-$2,800 of closing costs come out of it. Two things move the figure and neither is your purchase price: how much principal you have repaid, and today's appraisal. If your balance already sits above 80% of current value there is nothing to draw, regardless of what the home was worth when you bought. A stand-alone HELOC caps lower at 65% — about $88,583 here — but can reach the same 80% combined when bundled with a first mortgage.

Non-penalty costs run roughly <strong>$1,750 to $2,800</strong>: appraisal $300-$500, legal or notary $1,000-$1,500, your current lender's discharge fee $200-$400, and title insurance $250-$400. There is no land transfer tax, because ownership isn't changing hands. On top of that sits the prepayment penalty — $4,134 on the illustration used throughout this page — which is usually the largest line by a wide margin. In most cases none of it is cash out of pocket: the costs and the penalty are deducted from the equity at closing by the solicitor. Some lenders cover legal and appraisal on a refinance, which is often worth more than a small rate difference. The proportion is what should drive your decision: $2,275 against the full $177,165 available here is about 1.3%, but the same $2,275 against a $50,000 draw is 4.6% — which is why small draws belong on a HELOC or a second mortgage.

Mortgage Squad Advisors is a licensed Ontario mortgage brokerage — FSRA (Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario) Brokerage Licence #13737. All advisors are licensed and FINTRAC-trained, and every recommendation follows FSRA's conduct and disclosure rules.