Fortnightly home loan repayment calculator

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Higher costs and/or fewer features.

How to use the fortnightly repayment calculator

To use the fortnightly repayment calculator you just need a few of your home loan details:

• Loan term: Select the number of years you took out the home loan for.
• Original loan amount: Enter the amount you borrowed for your home loan.
• Interest rate: Enter your current interest rate.
• Made repayments: Work out the number of monthly repayments you've already made. Note this is in months and not years.

You'll then see the calculations comparing monthly repayments, fortnightly repayments and weekly repayments.

The term bi-monthly in the calculator refers to your monthly repayment being split in half and then charged every 2 weeks. This is different to some fortnightly repayments where the cost is calculated from your annual repayment, which we explain below.

Expert insight: Be aware of lender calculations

"Some banks will allow you to change your repayment frequency, but they'll take your monthly repayment multiplied by 12 months and divided by 52 weeks. Then they'll multiply this by two for [lower] fortnightly payments.

Some lenders by nature will calculate it their own way and there's no two ways about it. But some lenders will calculate a true fortnightly repayment."

Glenn Braganza

Chief strategy officer, 1st Choice Financial

How banks calculate fortnightly repayments

There are 2 ways banks will calculate your fortnightly repayments and one of those ways doesn't save you money at all.

Option 1 - Bi-monthly fortnightly repayment: Your lender splits your monthly repayment in half. You repay that amount every 2 weeks. Because there are 26 repayments in a year and not 24, you'll make an additional month's repayment over the year.

Option 2 - Annual fortnightly repayment: Your lender will take your annual repayment and divide it by 26 for the number of repayments you'd make that year. This means your fortnightly repayments will be lower, but you'll repay the same amount annually as you would have if you kept your monthly repayment.

How fortnightly repayments can save you money

Let's take a look at how a $600,000 home loan on an interest rate of 5% over 30 years would fare with each repayment method:

Monthly repayment

Your monthly repayments would be $3,220.93. That's an annual repayment of $38,651.16. You'd pay a total of $1,159,534.71 over the 30 year loan.

Bi-monthly fortnightly repayment

You'll be paying $1,610.46 a fortnight. This means you make an annual repayment of $41,871.96. That's an extra $3,220.80 a year (a whole extra month's repayment) which will cut your home loan by 4 years and 6 months. You'll save more than $80,000 in interest.

Annual fortnightly repayment

Your fortnightly repayment would be a lower repayment of $1,486.52. You'd pay the same amount annually as if you'd kept your repayment monthly. Therefore you'd save no time or interest on your loan.

What to be aware of with fortnightly home loan repayments

Although fortnightly home loan repayments should save you money over the long run, there are a couple of reasons they might not work for you.

• Your pay cycle. If you get paid monthly you might find it easier to pay your home loan monthly too, rather than making sure you have the right amount of money in the right account when your home loan repayments are due. This doesn't mean you can't benefit in the same way as someone making fortnightly repayments. If you put aside the money and your loan allows extra repayments, simply pay an additional month's repayment into your loan each year. Or more if you can spare it!
• Mortgage stress. Paying fortnightly means you make an extra month's repayment each year. That's because months (mostly) aren't exactly 4 weeks. When you pay every fortnight there are 2 months of the year which have an extra repayment. You need to make sure you have the budget flexibility for those months. If you're struggling with your home loan repayments as it is, having that extra repayment twice a year can make things much harder.

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The Finder Score crunches 7,000 home loans across 120+ lenders. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees and features, as well as the type of loan eg investor, variable, fixed rate - this gives you a simple score out of 10.

To provide a Score, we compare like-for-like loans. So if you're comparing the best home loans for cashback, you can see how each home loan stacks up against other home loans with the same borrower type, rate type and repayment type. We also take into consideration the amount of cashback offered when calculating the Score so you can tell if it's really worth it.

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Disclaimer: It is advised that borrowers speak with a mortgage broker or accountant regarding their home loan structure and repayment frequency to ensure that it will suit their financial situation.

Frequently asked questions about fortnightly home loan repayments

• Can I pay my home loan fortnightly?

  Yes, you can usually choose to repay your home loan weekly, fortnightly or monthly. You may not be able to repay weekly or fortnightly if you are on an interest-only home loan though. Most people pay their home loan monthly, but weekly or fortnightly repayments can mean you repay your home loan faster.

  Deciding on the frequency of your home loan repayments might be better decided on your own circumstances though. For example, so that it lines up with how often you receive your income.

• How can I pay my home loan off faster?

  There are a couple of ways you can pay your home loan off faster:

  1. Switch to making fortnightly repayments from monthly repayments. You'll make an extra repayment each year.
  2. Keep your repayments higher if rates drop. The extra money keeps chipping away at your principal balance.
  3. Use your offset account. Keep as much money in your offset account as possible to reduce the interest you're paying, so more of your repayment goes to the principal balance.

• Are fortnightly or weekly repayments better?

  There's not really a difference between weekly or fortnightly repayments in terms of saving money or reducing your home loan term. Whether one is better than the other depends more on your circumstances. For example, if you're paid weekly you might prefer your home loan repayments to come out weekly too.

Written by

Marc Terrano

Publisher

Marc Terrano is a lead publisher and growth marketer at Finder. He has previously worked at Finder as a publisher for frequent flyer points and home loans, and as a writer, podcast host and content marketer. Marc has a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) from the University of Technology Sydney. He’s passionate about creating honest and simple reviews and comparisons to help everyone get value for money. See full bio