CPF Accrued Interest Calculator
When you sell a property bought with CPF, you refund the CPF principal you used (P) plus the interest it would have earned in your Ordinary Account (I). CPF computes that interest monthly at the OA rate (2.5% p.a.) and compounds it annually. Sell at market value for less than P+I and the shortfall is not topped up in cash.
CPF you used for the property
Usually completion — when the CPF for your downpayment, stamp duty and legal fees left your Ordinary Account.
Downpayment, stamp duty and legal fees paid from your OA.
The part of your monthly housing instalment paid from your OA.
Accrued interest runs from first use until the refund is made.
Your sale
Paid off from the proceeds before anything returns to your CPF.
This only changes the answer if the proceeds fall short of the refund. It is the single fact that decides whether a shortfall is topped up in cash.
Advanced — interest rate & extra CPF used
Starts at 2.5%, the current OA rate and the legislated minimum. CPF applies its prevailing rate in each period, so a flat rate is an estimate.
A later one-off withdrawal, such as CPF used for a renovation-linked refinancing or a partial capital repayment.
What you refund to your CPF
S$252,293
CPF used for 10 years 7 months, at 2.5% a year
An estimate of CPF’s arithmetic, not a figure from CPF. It models a flat 2.5% rate, while CPF applies its prevailing rate in each period. Your authoritative figure is in the “What happens if” section of your CPF Home ownership dashboard.
The cash you keep from the sale
CPF’s order: the proceeds pay off the housing loan first, then refund P+I to your CPF account. What is left is your cash. Selling costs such as agent and legal fees come out of that cash and are not modelled here.
What if the proceeds fall short?
On these figures the proceeds cover the refund. If they did not, the sale price basis decides everything: sold at market value, CPF Board states you refund only the selling price less the outstanding loan and top up nothing in cash. Sold below market value, you top up the shortfall in cash. Lower the selling price above to see it.
Before and after the sale
The refund is one line in a bigger sum. These pick up either side of it.
How much CPF do you refund when you sell?
Two things, and CPF Board states them plainly: the CPF principal you withdrew for the property (P), and the accrued interest on it (I). The principal is easy to picture. The accrued interest is the part that surprises people, because it grows quietly for as long as the money is in the property, and nobody sends you a bill for it along the way.
Accrued interest is not a fee, a penalty, or a charge that anyone collects from you. It is the interest your savings would have earned had they stayed in your Ordinary Account. When you sell, it goes back into your own CPF account. The point of the rule is that your retirement savings end up where they would have been if you had never touched them for a home.
Computed monthly, compounded annually
This is the detail that trips up most calculators, and it is worth stating exactly. In CPF Board’s words, CPF interest “is computed monthly” and is “credited to your respective accounts by the following year and compounded annually”. Interest earned in one month does not itself start earning interest the next month. It is credited at the year end, and only then does the base it is computed on step up.
A calculator that compounds monthly instead produces a number that looks entirely reasonable and is wrong in a way you would never notice. On a 2.5% rate, monthly compounding works out at about 2.5% a year rather than 2.5%, and that gap widens with every year the property is held. This calculator follows CPF’s convention, and a test pins it so it cannot drift.
What S$100,000 of CPF accrues over time
A single lump sum of S$100,000, used in January and left in the property, at a flat 2.5% a year:
| Held for | Accrued interest (I) | Total refund (P + I) | I as % of P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 years | S$13,141 | S$113,141 | 13% |
| 10 years | S$28,008 | S$128,008 | 28% |
| 15 years | S$44,830 | S$144,830 | 45% |
| 20 years | S$63,862 | S$163,862 | 64% |
| 25 years | S$85,394 | S$185,394 | 85% |
SGfi’s arithmetic, not a CPF table. CPF applies its prevailing interest rate in each period, which is reviewed quarterly; this holds the rate flat at 2.5%, which is both the current Ordinary Account rate and the legislated minimum. It also assumes no voluntary refunds along the way. Your own figure is in the “What happens if” section of your CPF Home ownership dashboard.
If your sale proceeds do not cover the refund
This is the question behind most searches on the subject, and the answer turns on one fact: whether the property sold at market value.
Sold at market value. CPF Board states that if the selling price is not enough to cover the outstanding housing loan and the required CPF refund, you refund only the selling price less the outstanding loan, and you do not top up the shortfall in cash. The refund is simply smaller than P+I. Nobody pursues you for the difference. What it costs you is real but indirect: your retirement savings stay lower by the amount that was never restored, and that gap no longer earns CPF interest.
Sold below market value. The position reverses. CPF Board states that if a property sells below market value, the shortfall is topped up in cash. The same shortfall that would have been absorbed at market value becomes money you have to find. This is why the two cases are separated everywhere on this page rather than averaged into one answer.
One consequence worth spelling out, because the arithmetic makes it look stranger than it is: a sale can leave you with no cash at all and still be settled in full. If the proceeds after the loan are smaller than P+I, every dollar goes back to your CPF and none reaches your pocket. The money is still yours. It is in your CPF account rather than your bank account, and where it lands inside CPF depends on your age.
Common questions
How much CPF do I have to refund when I sell my HDB?
The CPF principal you withdrew for the property (P), plus the accrued interest on it (I). CPF Board states the rule plainly: the amount to refund is the principal amount you withdrew and the accrued interest. If you are 55 or above and pledged the property to help make up your retirement sum, the pledged amount is refundable too. The refund comes out of the sale proceeds after the outstanding housing loan is paid off, and what remains after both is your cash.
What is CPF accrued interest?
It is the interest your CPF savings would have earned had you not taken them out for the property. CPF savings sit in your Ordinary Account earning interest; the moment they go into a home, that interest stops. Accrued interest measures what stopped. Refunding it on sale is what puts your retirement savings back to where they would have been, which is why CPF requires it rather than just the principal. It is not a penalty, a fee, or a charge anyone collects from you: it goes back into your own CPF account.
How is CPF accrued interest calculated?
CPF computes interest monthly and compounds it annually — those are CPF Board's own words, and the detail matters. Interest earned in one month does not itself start earning interest the next month; it is credited at the year end, and only then does the base it is calculated on step up. A calculator that compounds monthly instead will quietly overstate the refund, and the gap widens every year you hold the property. The rate is the Ordinary Account rate, 2.5% per annum at present, and the clock runs from the month you first used the savings until the month you refund them.
What happens if my sale proceeds are not enough to refund my CPF?
This is where the sale price matters more than anything else. If you sold at market value and the price does not cover the outstanding housing loan plus the required CPF refund, CPF Board states you only refund the selling price less the outstanding loan, and you do not top up the shortfall in cash. The refund is simply smaller than P+I, and your CPF savings stay reduced by the difference. If the property sold below market value, the position reverses: CPF Board states you top up the shortfall in cash. So the same shortfall is either absorbed or payable, depending purely on whether the sale was at market value.
Can I reduce the accrued interest before I sell?
Accrued interest keeps building for as long as the CPF savings are in the property, so the amount depends on how much was used and for how long. CPF allows voluntary housing refunds: putting money back into your CPF account before you sell reduces the principal that is still out, which reduces the interest that accrues on it from then on. The money refunded goes into your own CPF account and earns the Ordinary Account rate there. Whether that trade suits your circumstances is a judgement about your own finances, and this calculator does not make it.
Where does the refund go after I sell?
Into your own CPF accounts, not to anyone else. CPF Board states that if you are below 55, your housing refunds are credited to your Ordinary Account. If you are above 55, the refund first tops up your Retirement Account to meet your required retirement sum, and the balance remains in your Ordinary Account. That is why the same sale can leave one person with more in their OA and another with their RA topped up first. To project what your CPF balances look like after that, use the CPF calculator.
Is this the exact figure CPF will ask me for?
No, and it is worth being precise about why. This calculator models a flat Ordinary Account rate of 2.5%, which is the current rate and also the legislated minimum. CPF applies its prevailing rate in each period, and that rate is reviewed quarterly — so if the OA ever paid above the floor while you held the property, your real accrued interest would be higher than this estimate. This tool also assumes a sole owner selling the whole property, and it does not model a property pledge. The authoritative figure for your own case is in the "What happens if" section of your CPF Home ownership dashboard. This is an estimate of CPF's arithmetic, not a statement from CPF.
Do my property figures leave my browser?
No. The selling price, the outstanding loan, the CPF you took out and the month you took it out are about as revealing as anything you could type into a property calculator, and not one of them is transmitted anywhere. The refund is worked out by JavaScript already running in this tab, so there is nothing in those figures for SGfi or anyone else to store.
Related tools
CPF Calculator
Project your Ordinary, Special and MediSave balances forward from your salary. It does not factor in a housing refund, which is what this page is for.
HDB Loan Calculator
Work out the monthly instalment and how much of it your CPF can cover — the figure that drives the accrual on this page.
Stamp Duty Calculator
Buyer’s and seller’s stamp duty. Stamp duty paid from your OA is part of the principal you refund later.
Retirement Calculator
What CPF covers of the monthly spend you want, and the gap it leaves. A refund lands back in the savings this one starts from.
CPF & Retirement
Every CPF tool on SGfi in one place.
Methodology
How SGfi sources figures, dates them, and separates a published rule from an estimate.
Official sources
Every rule and rate on this page is verified against CPF Board directly. The estimate the calculator produces is SGfi’s; the rules and the rate underneath it are CPF’s.
- CPF Board — Refund of CPF savings when you sell or transfer your propertyThe refund is the principal withdrawn (P) plus accrued interest (I). Also the market-value protection when proceeds fall short. Verified 2026-07-16.
- CPF Board — Why do I need to refund the accrued interest?Accrued interest runs from first use until the refund, at CPF’s prevailing rates, compounded annually. Verified 2026-07-16.
- CPF Board — How is my CPF interest computed and credited?Interest is computed monthly and compounded annually. Withdrawals stop earning interest from the month they are made. Verified 2026-07-16.
- CPF Board — If the selling price is not enough to cover the loan and the refundA sale below market value means the shortfall is topped up in cash. Verified 2026-07-16.
- CPF Board — CPF interest ratesThe Ordinary Account rate (2.5% p.a.), reviewed quarterly and subject to the legislated 2.5% minimum. Verified 2026-07-16.
Rules current as of 2026-07-16. This tool models a sole owner selling a whole property. CPF apportions a refund between co-owners in proportion to what each used, and members aged 55 or above who pledged the property to make up their retirement sum also refund the pledged amount; neither is modelled here.
These figures are estimates worked out from the details you enter, using current CPF Board rules (as of 16 July 2026). They are for general information and education only, and are not financial, tax, or legal advice.
Your CPF contribution rates, retirement sums, interest rates and CPF LIFE payouts are set by the CPF Board (not by SGfi), and the rules can change. The CPF LIFE payout figures shown here are SGfi’s own estimates, derived from CPF’s published payout table (not CPF-published amounts for your exact balance), so confirm your own figures with the official CPF Board sources before you rely on them. CPF publishes that table for a male member on the CPF LIFE Standard Plan, and states that a female member receives a lower payout because of a longer average life expectancy; CPF does not publish a female payout table, so SGfi does not show one. SGfi is not affiliated with the CPF Board or MAS; calculations run in your browser and your inputs are not stored.