What if the new rate is higher?

Refinancing to a higher rate doesn't make sense for interest savings. You might still refinance for other reasons (e.g. different features, consolidating debt).

Does this include cashback?

No. If your new lender offers cashback, subtract it from the refinance fees to see your net break-even.

What about ongoing fees?

This calculator focuses on upfront fees and interest savings. Compare ongoing fees (e.g. annual package fee) separately.

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Refinance Break-Even Calculator

How many months until refinancing pays off?

Enter your current loan balance and rate, the new rate you're considering, and upfront fees. We'll show you when you break even and your net savings over 1, 3 and 5 years.

Refinance Details

Enter your current loan balance and rates, plus the new rate and upfront fees. We'll show you how many months until you break even.

Current loan balance ($)

Current interest rate (%)

New interest rate (%)

Refinance fees ($)

Application, discharge, settlement and other upfront costs

Break-Even & Savings

Refinancing is worth it

Break-even9 months

You recover the refinance fees in 9 months from interest savings.

Net savings (1 year)$500.00

Net savings (3 years)$4,500.00

$4,179 in today's dollars

Net savings (5 years)$8,500.00

$7,513 in today's dollars

Monthly interest savings: $166.67

This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.

How to Use This Calculator

1Enter your current loan balance (what you still owe)
2Enter your current interest rate and the new rate you're considering
3Add upfront refinance fees (application, discharge, settlement)
4See how many months until you break even and your net savings over time

What is refinancing?

Refinancing means switching your home loan to a different lender or product, usually to get a lower interest rate. You pay off the old loan with the new one.

Upfront costs (application fees, discharge fees, settlement) mean you need to save enough in interest to cover those fees before you're ahead. This calculator shows when that happens.

When does refinancing make sense?

Rate difference: A lower rate saves interest each month. The bigger the gap, the faster you break even.
Fees: Application, discharge and settlement fees add up. Some lenders offer cashback that can offset these.
How long you'll stay: If you plan to sell or refinance again soon, you may not stay long enough to recover the fees.

Things to consider

•Compare the comparison rate, not just the advertised rate — it includes fees.
•Check if your current lender will match or beat the new rate before switching.
•Some lenders offer refinance cashback; factor that into your fees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official Sources

Moneysmart – debt consolidation and refinancing

Estimates only. Not financial or tax advice. Full disclaimer for your rights and our limitations of liability.

About this calculator

This calculator exists to show you the arithmetic. It applies published Australian rates, thresholds and formulas to the numbers you enter and shows the working, so you can check it. That is all it does — it produces a number and describes what the number is. It does not recommend anything and it holds no opinion about any financial product.

What can move this result

It only knows the figures you type in. Offsets, deductions, prior-year losses, other income, your partner's position and anything you have not entered are not in the result, and any of them can move it a long way.
Rates and thresholds change, sometimes mid-year and occasionally with retrospective effect. Where a financial year or verification date is shown, use it to check that the result matches the period you need — outside that period the result is wrong rather than approximate.
Assumptions are set to a reasonable default and every non-statutory one can be changed. Defaults are not predictions, and a small change to a growth or inflation assumption compounds into a large change in a long projection.
Where a result reaches two or more years into the future it is shown in today's dollars as well as future dollars, because a future-dollar figure overstates what the money will actually buy.
It is a generic calculator. It is not built around any particular product, it does not compare the market, and it cannot tell you whether a product is suitable for you.

Why these default assumptions are reasonable

Current rate: 6.2% a year. The RBA's published average variable rate on outstanding owner-occupier loans (table F6, July 2026) is the back book, which is who refinances. Your statement rate replaces it. Source · You can change this input.
New rate: 5.8% a year. Not an assumption about what refinancing achieves — it is the offer in your hand, and the calculator is only worth running once you have one. The prefill sits 0.4 points under the outstanding average purely as a worked example of the gap between what existing loans pay and what new money is offered; replace it first. Source · You can change this input.

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