Home loan refinance savings calculator

The assumptions used in this calculator are as follows:

• Interest rates do not change for the life of the loan.

• Where a fixed rate is selected, the variable revert rate at the end of the fixed rate term is assumed to be the same as the selected fixed rate.

• Any interest only period is assumed to be 5 years.

• Exit or termination fees charged by a previous lender, as well as other upfront or ongoing fees that may be charged by a new lender (such as Macquarie), are not factored into this calculation.

• The loan time remaining on your Macquarie loan is assumed to be the same as your current loan.

• Interest is charged monthly.

• Repayments on the Macquarie loan are made monthly. 

• It does not consider your ability to make the repayments shown.

• If you select an interest only home loan, after the interest only period is selected, the remainder of the loan is assumed to be principal and interest.

• Savings are impacted by your current repayment frequency.  

The assumptions used in this calculator are as follows:

• Interest rates do not change for the life of the loan.

• Where a fixed rate is selected, the variable revert rate at the end of the fixed rate term is assumed to be the same as the selected fixed rate.

• Any interest only period is assumed to be 5 years.

• Exit or termination fees charged by a previous lender, as well as other upfront or ongoing fees that may be charged by a new lender (such as Macquarie), are not factored into this calculation.

• The loan time remaining on your Macquarie loan is assumed to be the same as your current loan.

• Interest is charged monthly.

• Repayments on the Macquarie loan are made monthly. 

• It does not consider your ability to make the repayments shown.

• If you select an interest only home loan, after the interest only period is selected, the remainder of the loan is assumed to be principal and interest.

• Savings are impacted by your current repayment frequency.  

The calculator assumes the first monthly deposit is made after 1 month, and that the same deposit amount is made each month for the remainder of the loan term, without any withdrawals.

LVR is the amount you need to borrow, calculated as a percentage of the value of your property. For example, if your loan amount is $400K and your property value is $500K, then your LVR is 80%.

Principal and Interest:

A principal and interest home loan means your repayments reduce the principal (amount borrowed) and cover the interest for the period.

Interest Only:

An interest-only home loan is a type of loan where your repayments only cover the interest on the amount you have borrowed, during the interest-only period. There is no reduction in the principal.

The Offset Calculator calculates the amount of potential interest saved on a variable principal and interest home loan as well as the potential time saved in paying off the home loan if an offset account is linked to the home loan, relative to a home loan with no linked offset account. The amount of interest repaid is decreased by the amount of regular offset account deposits made per repayment period (taken to be monthly).

The calculation overall is based on a monthly repayment frequency and the original loan parameters entered into the corresponding refinance calculator, including outstanding loan amount (in dollars), Macquarie Bank’s offset interest rate based on your LVR (per annum) and the remaining loan term (in years). The longest loan term that can be inputted is 30 years.

The assumptions used in this calculator are as follows:​

• Length of month: All 12 months in a year are assumed to be of equal length. In reality, many loans accrue interest daily and actual interest paid may vary from month to month due to the different number of days in each month.
• Rounding of repayment amounts: In practice, repayments are rounded to at least the nearest cent. However, the calculator uses the unrounded repayment to derive the amount of interest payable each month and in total over the full term of the loan. This assumption allows for equal repayment amounts. The final repayment will be a partial repayment as required to reduce the outstanding loan balance to zero.
• Rounding of amount of interest saved: The calculation of the amount of interest saved due to offset accounts over the remaining loan term is rounded down to the nearest dollar. This amount can only be approximated from the amount of time saved.
• Rounding of time saved: The time saved is presented in years and months. This is rounded down to the nearest month.
• Offset home loan fee: The annual package offset home loan fee (currently $248) is not included in the amount of interest saved calculation.
• Interest rate: The interest rate is assumed to stay constant throughout the entire loan period.
• Offset deposit periods: The initial offset deposit is assumed to be made at the very beginning of the loan term. Additional regular monthly deposits are assumed for every month of the remaining loan term, starting from the end of the first month.
• Withdrawals: It is assumed no withdrawals are made from the offset account over the loan term.
• Offset balance: If the balance of an offset account exceeds the outstanding loan amount during the remaining loan term, it is assumed that:
  • The amount of interest payable on the outstanding loan amount reduces to zero.
  • No additional principal paydowns are made to the outstanding loan amount using the excess offset account balance. The monthly repayment amount as calculated by the refinance calculator remains the same and the entire monthly repayment amount is used to pay down the outstanding loan amount.

A comparison rate is a rate that helps you work out the true cost of a loan. It takes the interest rate plus most fees and charges relating to a loan and combines these amounts to a single percentage figure. The comparison rate allows you to compare loans from different lenders to find out how much it will cost you. 

Comparison rate based on a Macquarie offset loan. 

If your fixed rate term is ending, enter the variable interest rate that your home loan will change to (revert rate). Most revert rates will be around 6%-7%.

If you have selected Interest Only as the repayment type, the interest only period is assumed to be 5 years. The minimum total loan term remaining needs to be 25 years.