If you have a home loan on a fixed interest rate and decide to go on to a lower rate, repay the loan off early or make a lump sum payment, you may have to break your current fixed interest rate agreement. Before you decide to do this, it’s important to think about the financial implications including something that’s called an Early Repayment Adjustment or ERA.
This is an area that can get complicated, so the following information will explain what an ERA is, as well as take you through the pros and cons of breaking a fixed rate agreement and whether it’s the right option for you.
ERA = ((a-b)/100) multiplied by c multiplied by (d/365)
a = the fixed interest rate agreed for the term of the loan
b = our current fixed interest rate for a term equivalent to the remaining fixed term
c = the total amount that is being repaid on the loan or the current balance on the loan
d = the number of days remaining on the fixed rate agreement
example:
Graham – using a bonus to help pay his loan faster.
Graham has a loan fixed for 5 years at 8% p.a. with fortnightly repayments over a term of 25 years. After a year he got a $10,000 bonus at work and wanted to use it as a lump sum payment on his home loan which has a current balance of $150,000. Since his fixed rate agreement has 4 more years (or 1460 days) left to run and ASB’s current fixed interest rate for 4 years is 7% p.a, his ERA, using the simplified formula, would be calculated as follows:
ERA = ((8-7)/100) x 10,000 x (1460/365)
So Graham’s ERA using this simplified ERA formula would be around $400. By comparison, the actual ERA using the CCCFA calculation is $456.91 (including a $50 administration fee).