8 Best Strategies to Pay Off Your Home Loan Faster in Australia
If you have a home loan in Australia right now, you are carrying one of the largest financial commitments of your life.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average new owner-occupier home loan in Australia reached $693,801 in September 2025, with average monthly repayments of approximately $3,935 over a 30-year term at the current average rate of 5.49% per annum.
Over the full life of that loan, you will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest alone.
The good news is that paying off your home loan faster is not just possible — it is entirely achievable with a few smart, consistent strategies. Even small changes to how you manage your repayments can shave years off your mortgage and save you tens of thousands of dollars in interest.
At AMA Accountants, we work with homeowners across Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Darwin, and Tasmania every day — and the clients who build wealth the fastest are the ones who treat their home loan as something to eliminate, not just manage.
Here are the 8 most effective strategies our mortgage brokers and CPA accountants recommend.
1.Make Fortnightly Payments Instead of Monthly
This is one of the simplest and most effective strategies available to any Australian homeowner, yet most people never act on it.
By switching from monthly repayments to fortnightly repayments, you end up making 26 half-payments per year instead of 12 full payments.
The maths works out to 13 full monthly payments per year rather than 12 — meaning you make one extra full repayment every year without feeling it in your budget.
On a $600,000 home loan at 5.49% over 30 years, switching to fortnightly repayments alone can cut approximately 2.5 to 3 years off your mortgage and save you more than $40,000 in interest.
Contact your lender or ask AMA Accountants to help you restructure your repayment schedule today.
2.Make Extra Repayments Whenever Possible
Every dollar you pay above your minimum required repayment goes directly toward reducing your principal — the actual loan balance — rather than interest.
This accelerates the pace at which your loan reduces and lowers the interest calculated on the remaining balance each month.
You do not need to make large extra payments for this to have a meaningful impact.
Even an additional $50 to $100 per fortnight, applied consistently over several years, can reduce a 30-year loan by 3 to 5 years. Tax refunds, work bonuses, and salary increases are all excellent opportunities to direct extra funds into your mortgage.
Most variable rate home loans in Australia allow unlimited extra repayments without penalty — always check your loan contract first.
3.Use an Offset Account
An offset account is a transaction account linked directly to your home loan. The balance sitting in your offset account is subtracted from your outstanding loan balance before interest is calculated each day.
If your home loan balance is $500,000 and you have $50,000 sitting in your offset account, you are only charged interest on $450,000.
This strategy is highly effective because your money is still accessible at all times — it has not been locked into extra repayments — yet it is actively reducing your interest burden every single day.
According to APRA, total balances in Australian offset accounts exceeded $300 billion in the June 2025 quarter, demonstrating how widely Australians use this strategy.
If your current home loan does not include an offset account, refinancing to one could save you significantly.
Speak to an AMA Accountants mortgage broker about whether this option suits your situation.
4.Put Your Salary Into the Offset Account
To maximise the benefit of your offset account, redirect your salary to be deposited directly into it rather than a standard transaction account.
Every day your salary sits in the offset account, it is reducing the interest charged on your home loan.
The effect is most powerful at the beginning of each pay cycle when the full salary amount is sitting in the account.
Even if you spend most of it throughout the fortnight, the daily interest savings accumulate meaningfully over months and years.
This is one of the most passive and powerful strategies available to Australian homeowners — it requires no change in spending behaviour, only a change in where your pay is deposited.
This strategy is particularly well-suited to homeowners in high-cost cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth where loan balances tend to be larger.
5.Round Up Your Repayments
If your minimum required repayment is $1,847 per fortnight, consider rounding it up to $1,900 or $2,000.
The difference is modest in your day-to-day budget but the cumulative impact over a 25 to 30-year mortgage is substantial.
Rounding up by $150 per fortnight on a $600,000 loan at 5.49% could save you over $60,000 in interest and cut more than 4 years off your loan term.
This strategy works well for homeowners across all markets — whether you are in Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin, or Hobart, Tasmania — because it scales with your loan size and requires no complex financial restructuring.
Simply call your lender and adjust your direct debit amount.
6.Refinance to a Lower Interest Rate
With the average owner-occupier variable rate sitting at approximately 5.51% as of early 2026, many Australians are still paying rates that are significantly higher than the most competitive products currently available on the market. According to the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia, more than 75% of new home loans in Australia are now arranged through a mortgage broker — and with good reason.
Refinancing even 0.5% lower on a $600,000 loan can save you over $3,000 per year in interest.
Over 10 years, that is more than $30,000 — before compounding savings are considered. Around 34,800 Australian homeowners switch their home loan to another lender every month, demonstrating that refinancing is a normal, low-risk financial move when done correctly.
AMA Accountants operates as a licensed mortgage broker serving clients in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Darwin, and Tasmania. We compare home loan products across multiple lenders and manage the entire refinancing process on your behalf — at no cost to you.
7.Avoid Redrawing Extra Money
Many Australian home loans include a redraw facility — the ability to access any extra repayments you have made above the minimum.
While having this flexibility is reassuring, redrawing frequently destroys the financial progress you have worked hard to build.
Every dollar you redraw is added back to your outstanding balance, re-incurring interest over the remaining loan term.
The psychological discipline of treating extra repayments as permanently gone — not available for discretionary spending — is one of the biggest differentiators between homeowners who pay off their mortgage in 18 years versus 30.
If you need accessible savings for emergencies or irregular expenses, use your offset account for that purpose rather than the redraw facility.
This preserves the cash while continuing to reduce your daily interest charge.
8.Make a Habit of One Lump Sum Payment Per Year
Once per year, direct a meaningful lump sum directly into your home loan principal.
This could be your annual tax refund, an end-of-year work bonus, an inheritance, the proceeds from selling an asset, or simply accumulated savings you do not have an immediate need for.
A lump sum payment of $5,000 applied once per year on a $600,000 home loan at 5.49% could reduce your loan term by more than 5 years and save over $80,000 in total interest.
The earlier in the loan term you make lump sum payments, the greater the impact — because interest in the early years represents a much larger proportion of your repayments.
For many of AMA Accountants’ clients across Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Darwin, and Tasmania, the annual tax refund processed by our CPA team becomes their annual mortgage lump sum — turning a routine tax obligation into a powerful wealth-building tool.
Take Action Today — Every Month Counts
Paying off your home loan faster is not about making dramatic financial sacrifices.
It is about making consistently smarter decisions with the money you already have.
The eight strategies above are not theoretical — they are the practical approaches used by thousands of Australian homeowners every year to reduce their mortgage terms from 30 years to 20, or even fewer.
The most important step is the first one: review your current home loan, understand your repayment structure, and identify which of these strategies you can implement this month.
A qualified mortgage broker and CPA accountant can help you do this in a single conversation.
At AMA Accountants, our team combines certified public accounting expertise with licensed mortgage broking services — meaning we can help you optimise your tax position and your home loan strategy at the same time.
We serve clients across Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Darwin, and Tasmania, both in person and online.
Ready to Pay Off Your Home Loan Faster?
Book a free consultation with an AMA Accountants mortgage broker and CPA today. We will review your current home loan, identify your best refinancing and repayment options, and help you build a personalised plan to become mortgage-free sooner.
Call: 0420 529 890 | Website: www.amaaccountant.com.au
Certified Public Accountants | Licensed Mortgage Broker | Tax Practitioners Board Registered
Serving Adelaide | Melbourne | Sydney | Perth | Canberra | Darwin | Tasmania | Australia-Wide
Authored By Amit Chugh
Partner, CPA & Registered Tax Agent
Your Trusted Accountant for Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Across Australia
Amit Chugh is a Partner at The AMA Accountant and a highly respected CPA & Registered Tax Agent with a proven track record of delivering exceptional accounting and taxation services to individuals, businesses, and corporations across Australia.
With over 25+ of professional experience, Amit has helped thousands of clients streamline their finances, optimise tax returns, and ensure full compliance with Australian Taxation Office (ATO) requirements. His client base spans Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Tasmania, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Canberra, and regional hubs including Prospect, Modbury, Mawson Lakes, Woodville, Mount Gambier, Victor Harbor, Whyalla, Port Lincoln, Murray Bridge, Port Augusta, Gawler, and Port Pirie.
Disclaimer
This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, or business advice. Outcomes may vary based on individual circumstances, applicable laws, and current regulations, which may change over time.
We recommend seeking personalised advice from a qualified professional before making any decisions. AMA Accountants is a registered provider of accounting and tax services in Australia.
