CPF Accrued Interest Calculator (2026)

See the accrued interest you must refund to your CPF Ordinary Account when you sell or transfer a property — 2.5% p.a. compounded monthly.

Your CPF usage

Total CPF OA used for the property

Date CPF was first withdrawnSale date (or today, for a running tally)

v1 covers a single withdrawal event. For top-ups during ownership, use the CPF Board's official refund calculator.

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Enter your CPF OA principal and dates to see the accrued interest you must refund on sale.

For reference only — not financial advice.

When this actually bites — and how to reduce it

Accrued interest only matters at certain trigger events, and there are a handful of strategies that materially reduce how much you owe back to CPF when those events come.

event

When the refund kicks in

Selling the property — the most common trigger. CPF principal + accrued interest is refunded out of sale proceeds before any cash reaches you.
Transferring ownership— divorce-related transfer, gift, or decoupling all trigger the refund of the exiting owner's share.
Lease ends or redevelopment — SERS, en-bloc, or 99-year lease expiry triggers a refund based on the compensation amount.
HDB "negative sale"— if sale proceeds can't cover the outstanding loan + accrued interest, HDB has a waiver mechanism but you must apply.

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Strategies that reduce it

Use less CPF up front— pay a bigger cash downpayment. Every $10,000 CPF you don't use saves ~$3,300 of accrued interest over 10 years.
Pay monthly instalments in cash, not CPF — over a 25-year loan the compounding difference is large.
Voluntary CPF refund — you can refund CPF principal back into your OA at any time (cash to OA), which stops further interest accrual on that amount.
Refinance to a longer tenure carefully — a longer loan means more years of compounding accrued interest, not less.

Remember:accrued interest isn't cash you lose — it's your retirement savings going back into your CPF OA where it keeps earning 2.5%. The decision is really about whether you want money in CPF or in your hand at sale.

CPF Board — refund on sale / transfer·HDB — sale proceeds order

How CPF accrued interest works

Three things to know before you sell.

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2.5% p.a. compounded monthly

CPF OA earns 2.5% per annum, compounded monthly. The interest you must refund equals what your principal would have earned had it stayed in OA the whole time.

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It is not a loss

The refund goes back into your CPF OA. It is not cash out the door — it is your retirement savings being restored to where they would have been.

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It compounds with time

Holding the property longer means more accrued interest to refund. Over 15+ years the interest can rival the original principal — and that affects what is "left over" in cash after a sale.

FAQ

What is CPF accrued interest?add

When you use CPF OA to fund a property purchase, that money would otherwise have earned 2.5% p.a. inside your OA. When you sell the property, you must refund both the principal CPF you used and the interest it would have earned — the "accrued interest" — back into your OA.

How is CPF accrued interest calculated?add

Accrued Interest = Principal × ((1 + 0.025/12)^months − 1), where months is the number of full calendar months between the date the CPF was first drawn and the date you sell. CPF compounds monthly, so the effective annual rate is slightly above 2.5% (~2.53%).

Is CPF accrued interest a loss?add

No. The refund goes back into your CPF OA and continues earning 2.5%. It is not money you lose — it is money that returns to your CPF to fund your retirement. The opportunity cost is real (CPF growth vs property growth) but the interest is not a cash outflow.

What if my sale proceeds cannot cover the principal + accrued interest?add

This is the "negative sale" scenario. HDB and CPF have specific rules for shortfalls — generally the available proceeds are refunded to CPF first (waiver of accrued interest in HDB cases under conditions), but you may still have to top up. Confirm with HDB and the CPF Board for your exact situation.

Does this calculator handle CPF top-ups during ownership?add

Not in v1. This calculator covers a single withdrawal event (the original CPF used at purchase). If you made monthly CPF instalments toward the mortgage, each instalment accrues its own interest from the date of that instalment. Use the CPF Board's official refund calculator for the full, payment-by-payment number.

Sources

• CPF Board — Refund when selling or transferring property — Accrued interest concept and refund process (verified 2026-05-20)
• CPF Board — Interest rates — OA 2.5% p.a. compounded monthly (verified 2026-05-20)

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