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Refinance Break-Even Calculator

Switching lenders costs money before it saves you any. This works out how long the lower repayment takes to recover the switching costs.

Discharge fee, government fees, and any application or valuation fee.

When you break even

Break-even point—
Verdict—
Monthly saving$—
Switching costs$—
Net saving over the term$—
Ask us to run your numbers

Estimates only, comparing two loans over the same remaining term at constant rates. Excludes break costs on fixed loans, which can be substantial and are calculated by your lender on the day.

Is that number right for your situation?

A calculator applies one formula. Lenders apply their own, and they disagree with each other. Send us what you worked out and we will tell you how it looks against real lender policy.

  • More than 60 lenders compared
  • No fee to you
  • A real answer, not a sales call

We use your details to answer your enquiry and nothing else. See our privacy policy.

Why break-even matters more than the rate gap

A lower rate is only a saving once it has repaid what the switch cost. If you break even in eight months and stay five years, refinancing was clearly worth it. If you break even in four years and sell in three, it cost you money despite the better rate.

So the question is not just how much lower the new rate is, but how long you realistically expect to keep the loan. That is the number most refinancing conversations skip.

The trap this calculator deliberately avoids

This compares both loans over the same remaining term. Many refinance comparisons quietly reset the new loan to thirty years, which lowers the repayment and makes the saving look far larger than it is, while adding years of interest.

Keeping the term constant is the honest comparison. If you do refinance, ask for the remaining term rather than a fresh thirty years, or keep paying the old repayment amount so the shorter term happens anyway. See the refinance savings calculator for the total-saving view.

What is not in the costs field

If any part of your loan is fixed, breaking it early triggers a break cost that your lender calculates on the day, and it can be large enough to make refinancing pointless until the fixed period ends. It is not predictable from a formula, so ask your lender for the figure before you decide.

Also excluded: Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which is not transferable between lenders and applies again if your new loan exceeds 80% of the property value. Our LMI calculator gives an indication.

Common questions

Typically a discharge fee from your current lender, government fees to discharge and register the mortgage, and sometimes an application, settlement or valuation fee at the new lender. Many new-lender fees are waived, so ask.

It is real money, so yes, subtract it from your switching costs. But treat it sceptically: cashbacks are usually recovered through the rate over the following years, and the calculator above will show you whether the rate still stacks up without it.

Then refinancing rarely pays. If your break-even point is longer than the time you expect to hold the loan, staying put is the better answer, and we will say so.

Often yes, and it is worth trying first because it costs nothing. Lenders frequently have retention pricing they will offer to keep you. If that gets you close to the market, you avoid the switching costs entirely.

Benjamin Marzouk

Mortgage broker, LNB Finance

Benjamin Marzouk is the broker behind LNB Finance, working with clients across the St George, Bayside and Sutherland Shire areas from Sans Souci, and arranging finance Australia-wide. He compares more than 60 lenders and is not owned by, or aligned to, any bank.

Credit Representative 551447 under Australian Credit Licence 384324, held by Outsource Financial Pty Ltd. LNB Finance Pty Ltd, ABN 83 668 176 083, and is subject to the Best Interests Duty. Both licence numbers are publicly searchable on ASIC Connect. Read our Credit Guide.

Worth switching, or worth staying?

We compare over 60 lenders and will tell you plainly when the answer is to stay where you are.

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