Progress Payment Build Drawdown Calculator

This calculator estimates the interest you pay during a house build in New Zealand while the bank draws down your loan in progress payments, a cost first-time builders almost always underestimate. When you build, the lender does not hand over the whole loan at once. Instead it releases money in stages as the work is completed, typically at deposit, foundations, frame and closed-in, fit-out and completion, paying the builder each time. You pay interest only on the amount drawn down so far, which means your interest bill starts small and grows steadily as the build progresses and more of the loan is advanced. Because the drawn balance climbs over the build, the average amount you are paying interest on is roughly half the total cost by the time the house is finished. You enter the total build cost, how many months the build will take, your interest rate, and the average proportion of the loan drawn across the build, and the calculator estimates the total interest you will pay during construction and the rough monthly cost. Use it to budget for the often-forgotten financing cost on top of the build price, and to see how much a delay or a higher rate adds. This is an estimate only, not financial advice; your lender's actual drawdown schedule will differ.

Interest is only on the amount drawn down so far; the balance grows over the build. Your lender's drawdown schedule will differ. Estimate only.