Home loan repayments calculator

How to use the home loan repayments calculator

This mortgage calculator can be used to help you work out what your home loan repayments are going to be with different interest rates and home loan terms. It can help you while you compare home loans, and it’s simple to use with three main inputs required.

Loan amount: This is the amount of money remaining in your home loan. At the beginning of a new home loan, this could be up to 95% of the property’s value (or up to 110% if you are opting for a guarantor loan), but the amount will change as you pay off more of the loan and gain equity in your property. If you are refinancing your mortgage, you may have a considerably smaller loan amount than you did at the start of your home loan.

Loan term (in years): Home loan terms tend to range between 20 – 40 years. The longer the term, the smaller the repayments will be. However, on the downside, the longer the term of your loan, the more interest you will pay.

Interest rate (% p.a.): This is the interest rate charged on your home loan. Higher interest rates tend to be charged for borrowers with more marks on their credit records, borrowing larger amounts, or paying smaller percentage deposits.

A simple calculation like this assumes no changes to the world around you, no changes in how you are paying your loan, and no changes in the loan’s conditions. Selecting the “advanced” dropdown will allow you to toggle many more options and get a more accurate picture of your repayments over the life of the loan. These extra options are:

Principal and interest / Interest-only: Select whether the loan is principal and interest or interest-only, which will make a big deal of difference to the size of your initial repayments and the time it will take you to pay off your loan.

Repayment frequency: This is how often you will be making your repayments. Most commonly, repayments are made monthly, but some lenders will allow flexible repayment schedules. This can mean fortnightly or weekly repayments if it better fits your schedule.

Introductory rate (% p.a.): If you have applied for a loan with an introductory rate, it’s important to enter it here. This can help to calculate how your repayments in the introductory period will differ from later repayments.

Introductory term (in years): Likewise, this is the length of time that your introductory interest rate applies for.

Upfront fee: Some home loans come with significant upfront fees, which will usually be worked into your repayments.

Ongoing fee: If your home loan has any kind of service fee or monthly payment, this is the place to enter it in. 

Fee frequency: If that service fee is monthly, here’s where you would say that. Otherwise, you might have some kind of ongoing yearly fee - you would note that here.

By putting in all the necessary figures, the calculator will put out your initial repayments (if you have an introductory offer or an interest only loan), your subsequent monthly repayments, and the total amount of interest you will pay for that home loan option.

You can also use this calculator to choose between different options and find the one that fits you best. You can do this by toggling the details in the calculator to match prospective loan details, like the interest rate.

What calculators should I use when I am looking to buy a property?

Other than this home loan repayment calculator, there are other calculators you can use to help you work out different elements of your finances when you are buying a house. These include:

Extra repayments calculator: The extra repayments calculator can be used to help you find out how much interest you will save and how much time you can shave off by making extra repayments.

Switch and save calculator: This refinancing calculator is helpful for working out what the difference could be if you switched to a refinance home loan.

Home loan rate change calculator: Work out how your home loan repayments will be impacted by rate changes with this home loan rate change calculator.

Home loan comparison calculator: Compare two different home loan options with the home loan comparison calculator.

Home loan borrowing calculator: Use the home loan borrowing calculator to figure out how much you can afford to borrow and pay back.

Stamp duty calculator: One of the biggest upfront costs in purchasing property is stamp duty, and you can use the stamp duty calculator to work out how much that will cost you.

You may also want to use a budget calculator to see how your home loan repayments will fit into the rest of your daily expenses.