Should I pay off my mortgage early in Singapore? Answered!

Every property owner in Singapore with a home loan must have had the perennial question lingering when it came to their mortgages – to pay down or not? There are various factors to consider when thinking about how to tackle this age-old issue but a few simple points as detailed below can help to provide clarity.

Did You Know? According to OCBC Bank’s latest Financial Wellness Index 2020 survey, 55 per cent of millennials (aged 21-39) are concerned about not being able to afford a house for their own stay. Almost 38 per cent (four in 10) individuals who already have mortgage loans have problems paying off loans on time.

Paying off your mortgage vs Investing

Prepaying your home loan has some benefits. Prepaying loans itself is like investing. Aside from saving a lot of funds on your interest, prepaying your housing loans early helps diversify your investable funds by using your saved amount in varied investments, which will generate an assured income.

Furthermore, if you sell your house, it frees up part of your accrued interest. Prepaying your loans in simple terms means that instead of making your mortgage payments promptly every month, you pay some of it beforehand.

Let us put this in simpler terms. Assuming you have a mortgage of $500,000, with an interest of 2.5% as well as a remaining loan tenure of 20 years. You have spare funds of around $50,000 available, which you are deciding between paying down your mortgage or investing at a yield of 3.5% per annum for 20 years.

Scenario 1: Paying down your mortgage

Total saved over 20 years: $63,600

Scenario 2: Investing at 3.5% per annum over 20 years

Total earned over 20 years: $85,000 (including principal)

The clear winner is apparent: if you have an investment option which gives higher interest than your mortgage, it is always a good idea to invest rather than paying down your mortgage loan.

So is it worth paying off your mortgage early?

By paying your home loan early, you would eliminate interest payments, which will result in lesser cash required to meet monthly expenses and save you a healthy amount every month. Assume that you’ve accumulated the right amount of savings and would like to settle it towards paying off your mortgage.

For example, if you took a home loan of $500,000 for 20 years, you would be paying $2,649 every month.

Now, if you made a one-time payment of $30,000 against your home loan, you would be paying $2,249 every month.

That would save you around $160 every month, which would accumulate to $38,400 over 20 years.

That is money in your pocket instead of in the bank!

Therefore, yes, it is worth paying your mortgage early if you have spare funds without any good utility for them.

Downsides to paying off your mortgage early

When it reduces your rainy-day funds

Although making a lump sum payment towards your home loan does have its benefits, there are some situations where it might not prove to be your best decision. If paying your loans early will deplete your savings, you should not hasten to pay off your housing loan. It is not a very good idea to spend all your cash on a housing loan and tie yourself up financially because it is hard to convert equity from your property into cash in times of unexpected financial challenges, such as a loss of income or a medical emergency.

Other higher interest-bearing debts                

Also, it might not be wise to prepay your mortgage loans with relatively low interest rates when you have other debts with higher interest rates, such as credit card debt.

Prepayment penalties

Similarly, if the penalties imposed by your bank for an early prepayment negate interest savings gained by paying your loans early, you might not want to go for that option.

Mortgage Insurance or HPS

Mortgage insurance is one more reason to think twice before preparing your investments. If you are covered under mortgage insurance like Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA) or Home Protection Scheme (HPS) for HDB properties, your loan will be paid off in situations like death, terminal illness, or disability. Thus, extra savings that you have accumulated at present will help to support yourself or your loved ones when it is needed the most.

Why Refinancing Your Home Loans Might Be A Better Option Than Prepaying Your Mortgage Earlier?

When you replace your existing home loan with a new home loan from another bank, it is called refinancing. In Singapore, home loan refinancing is quite a popular financial move by borrowers, mostly after the lock-in period of the existing housing loan. When you opt for refinancing, you have an option to change to another home loan with a shorter loan tenure or reduce your interest rates.

Let us use the same example as earlier where you have an outstanding mortgage of $500,000 at an interest rate of 2.5% and a remaining tenure of 20 years. Your monthly instalment would thus be $2,649.

You choose to refinance at Bank B with a lower interest rate of 1.8% keeping the remaining tenure the same at 20 years. Your monthly instalment would then be $2,482.

The monthly savings you will enjoy would be around $167. Over the 20 year tenure, your total savings would then be $40,080.

Let us take a step back and compare the refinancing option vs paying down your mortgage loan as indicated earlier.

Refinancing,

Upfront costs: $0 (Banks usually provide subsidies to cover your legal and valuation fees)

Total savings: $40,080

Prepaying your mortgage,

Upfront costs: $50,000

Total net savings: $13,600 ($63,600 – $50,000)

There we have it. Prepaying your mortgage in Singapore should be your last resort if there is no investment option that can yield you higher interest than your mortgage or if refinancing your mortgage brings about close to no savings.

Not sure about how to refinance? Find out the tips for a housing loan refinancing.

Dollarback Mortgage provides a holistic analysis of 145 home loan packages across 16 banks. Enjoy cash rewards through us as we are committed to ensuring you do not bear any upfront costs so that you enjoy immediate savings!