Why your home now costs you twice as much – and how to fix it

October 24, 2026 — 2:01am

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It’s at 6.36 per cent interest – where most mortgages are now – that the price you initially paid for your home, doubles. Yes, the interest you outlay on a typical $400,000 mortgage is almost exactly $400,000, on $700,000 borrowed it’s $700,000 and on $1.5 million – you get it.

That’s over a 25-year loan term. And, crucially, it’s only if you let your loan term run for 25 years.

So, let’s look at your shortening strategies, at all the ways you can bring your mortgage-freedom date forward. Some of them are cheaper and easier than you think. We will start with the cheapest.

Use the offset potential properly: Very few people operate offset accounts to their full benefit. But let’s make sure you have a proper one first – because ASIC has lenders in its sights about this.

To take maximum advantage of an offset account attached to a mortgage, money you hold in the offset must reduce the loan balance by an equal amount. In other words, dollar for dollar.

Why your bank might be overcharging you interest – and how to check

Bec WilsonMoney contributor

Watch out, too, for offset accounts that don’t give you the same interest rate saving as your home loan. Many offsets attached to fixed-rate loans do not. But a quality offset account is a powerful thing.

Let’s say you........

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