Extra Home Loan Repayments Calculator
How much could you potentially save on your mortgage by boosting your regular payments? Try our extra repayments calculator to find out. Enter your current loan details – then give your repayment amount a boost. You can also nominate when to start your increased repayment to take account of future pay rises or reduced expenses down the track.
What are extra repayments on a mortgage?
Extra repayments are made after the establishment of the loan, and are made at the same time as you continue to pay your regular, required monthly repayments.
The CANSTAR Extra Repayments Calculator allows you to “try out” many different calculations about additional repayments you could make on a home loan. Read on to find out how your loan term and the interest you pay are affected by making extra repayments of different sizes.
How long does it take to pay off a mortgage?
Most mortgages have a loan term (the timeframe you must repay it in) as long as 25 to 30 years.
But you don’t want to take 30 years to repay your loan, because as we’ve explained in this article, changing your loan term makes a big difference to how much you pay in interest over the life of your loan. That’s why making extra repayments – to reach your goal of freedom sooner – helps to shorten your loan term and means you pay less over the long run.
How long does it take to pay off a mortgage with extra payments?
It depends on several factors, including your loan amount, your loan term, repayment frequency, interest rate, extra repayment amount, extra repayment frequency and when you begin making extra repayments. In general, making more extra repayments and making larger extra repayments will shorten how long it takes you to pay off a mortgage.
Read on to find out how your monthly repayments – and how much interest you pay over the life of your loan – change as you decrease or increase your loan term by repaying the loan faster or slower.
How we made our calculations
The calculations we’ve made are based on inputting the following data into our calculator, except where we have specified otherwise.
- Loan Amount: $350,000
- Repayment Frequency: Monthly
- Interest Rate: 89% (average standard variable interest rate on our database at time of writing)
- Loan Term: 25 years
- Extra repayment (monthly): $200/month
- Extra repayments start after: 1 year
- Minimum monthly repayments based on these figures: $2,024/month
- Increased monthly repayments based on these figures: $2,224/month
- Interest saved over loan term by extra repayments: $42,184
- Time saved by extra repayments: 3 years 8 months
According to CANSTAR’s comprehensive research database, the majority of Australians (60%) are looking for a loan amount of between $350,000 and $749,000 – so we’ve based our home loan calculations for this article on a loan of $350,000. You can enter the specific loan amount you are looking for in our home loan calculators and our comparison of home loans on the market.
Not every home loan product allows you to make additional repayments. Make sure you check the features of a home loan, including its facility for additional repayments (a.k.a. extra repayments), before signing up for the long haul.
Interest rate
Changing the interest rate on your loan makes a massive difference to your monthly repayments. This is why it’s so important to compare your options on the CANSTAR website and find a great value home loan for your situation.
The extra repayments calculator shows that the higher the interest rate you pay, the more you will save in interest by making extra repayments. For example, at the maximum variable rate available on our database at the time of writing (for a loan of $350,000 on the terms listed above), you would save $61,046 in interest over the life of your loan by making extra repayments of just $200/month.
| Interest Rate | Min Repayment | Increased Repayment | Interest saved by extra repayments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.85%
(min variable rate) |
$1,819/month | $2,019/month | $30,566 |
| 4.89%
(average variable rate) |
$2,024/month | $2,224/month | $42,184 |
| 6.31%
(max variable rate) |
$2,322/month | $2,522/month | $61,046 |
Indicative calculations only. Use the calculator to look at how much you might save.
Don’t forget the other costs
We would be remiss if we didn’t remind you that there is more to the cost of a home loan than the interest rate the institution charges. Remember to also look at the comparison rate, ongoing fee, and up-front fee listed when you’re comparing home loans using our comparison tables.
When to start making extra repayments
The sooner you start making extra repayments to your home loan, the more you will save in interest, and the quicker you can repay your loan.
For example, with a loan term of 25 years, making extra repayments after just 5 years means you could save yourself $27,000 in interest and over 2 years off your loan term. In contrast, starting extra repayments after 10 years might save you just $14,000 in interest and less than 2 years off your loan term.
| Extra repayments start after | Interest saved over loan term | Time to repay | Time saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immediately
(0 years) |
$46,355 | 21-22 years | 3 years 11 months |
| 1 year | $42,184 | 21-22 years | 3 years 8 months |
| 2 years | $38,252 | 21-22 years | 3 years 6 months |
| 3 years | $34,552 | 21-22 years | 3 years 3 months |
| 4 years | $31,078 | 21-22 years | 3 years |
| 5 years | $27,826 | 22-22 years | 2 years 10 months |
| 10 years | $14,656 | 23-24 years | 1 year 10 months |
| 15 years | $6,093 | 23-24 years | 1 year 1 month |
| 20 years | $1,424 | 24-25 years | 6 months |
Indicative calculations only. Use the calculator to look at how much you might save.
Size of extra repayments
Making larger extra repayments will obviously make more of a difference to helping you pay less interest and repay your loan faster. You can use our calculator to work out how different sizes of extra repayment could help your loan.
The below calculations are based on a $350,000 over a 25-year loan term, and are provided solely as an example.
This table is not intended to be any form of recommendation about what size of repayments you should make. Please consider your own personal financial situation and seek financial advice before making any decisions.
| Extra repayments | Interest saved over loan term | Time saved off loan term |
|---|---|---|
| $100/month | $23,251 | 2 years |
| $200/month | $42,184 | 3 years 8 months |
| $300/month | $57,937 | 5 years 2 months |
| $400/month | $71,271 | 6 years 4 months |
| $500/month | $82,719 | 7 years 5 months |
Indicative calculations only. Use the calculator to look at how much you might save.
Home loan calculators to help you work out your financial position
Use CANSTAR’s home loan calculators when you’re doing your sums about how much you can afford to borrow in a home loan:
- Home Loan Borrowing Power Calculator
- Home Loan Repayments Calculator
- Home Loan Extra Repayments Calculator
- Home Loan Lump Sum Repayment Calculator
- Home Loan Honeymoon Rate Repayment Calculator
- Home Loan Stamp Duty Calculator
- Home Loan Split Calculator (variable/fixed interest split loan interest rate)
- Home Loan Comparison Calculator