What home loan borrowers should do to prepare for future interest rate hikes

What home loan borrowers should do to prepare for future interest rate hikes
ET Bureau
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Though interest rate on home loans are multi-decadal low, however, a borrower should prepay for possibility in case interest rate hike in future. Here are three options a home loan borrower can consider.

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There are three options available to a home loan borrower.
As ET Wealth completes 10 years, we present the compressed wisdom of this eventful journey. Here are the best stories from the decade on what home loan borrowers can do to prepare for future interest rate hikes especially if the home loan is linked to an external benchmark such as repo rate etc.

How borrowers can beat the interest rate hike
Here are the three options home loan borrowers can consider.

I. Make prepayment and save
Use surplus cash to pay off some part of the loan. This will have a big impact on the tenure and interest payable.
Home loan Rs 50 lakh
Rate of interest 8.5%
Tenure 25 years
EMI Rs 40,261
Interest payable Rs 70.78 lakh
Amount prepaid in 7th month Rs 2.5 lakh
Revised interest payable Rs 56.15 lakh
Tenure reduced by 2 years 1 month
Interest saved Rs 14.63 lakh

II. Increase EMI to save big
When rates are hiked, the loan tenure gets extended, increasing the interest outgo. Hiking EMI saves interest.
Home loan Rs 50 lakh
Rate of interest 8.5%
Original tenure 20 years
EMI Rs 43,391
Interest payable Rs 54.14 lakh

If the home loan rate is hiked…
New rate of interest 8.75%
New tenure 21 years
Interest payable Rs 59.53 lakh
Additional interest Rs 5.39 lakh

To counter this, increase the EMI…
Original EMI Rs 43,391
New EMI Rs 44,186
Extra payment per month Rs 795
Interest payable Rs 56.04 lakh
Savings in interest* Rs 3.49 lakh
*Compared to extension of tenure

III. Switch lender for lower rate
Lenders offer lower rates if a borrower refinances a loan. Choose this option if rate offered is lower by at least 25 bps.
Home loan Rs 50 lakh
Tenure 20 years
Existing lender rate of interest 8.75%
EMI Rs 44,186
Interest payable Rs 56.04 lakh
New lender rate of interest 8.5%
EMI Rs 43,391
Interest payable Rs 54.14 lakh
Ancillary charges and processing fee Rs 15,000
Interest saved Rs 1.75 lakh
Sources: Mortgage World, SBI website

(Originally published on June 18, 2018)

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