How bond repayments are calculated
A South African home loan (bond) uses a standard amortisation formula. Each monthly payment covers both interest and a portion of the outstanding principal, so the balance reduces to zero over the loan term.
Where: P = loan amount | r = monthly rate (annual ÷ 12) | n = months (years × 12)
Most SA banks price home loans between prime and prime + 2% depending on your credit profile and deposit size. The SA prime rate is currently 10.25% (May 2026) — check sarb.co.za or your bank for the latest figure.
Bond registration costs are split into two components. The Deeds Office Levy is the official government registration charge calculated on the Deeds Office 2025/2026 tariff scale. The Bond Attorney Fees are the conveyancing attorney's prescribed tariff fee (Law Society scale), plus 15% VAT. Both are applied to the loan amount.
Transfer and conveyancing costs are also two components. Transfer Duty is the SARS government tax on the property purchase price — properties up to R1,100,000 are exempt and rates from 3% to 13% apply above that. Transfer Attorney Fees are the conveyancing attorney's prescribed fee for registering the transfer (Law Society scale), plus 15% VAT.
Impact of extra payments: Because SA home loans are amortised, making additional payments directly reduces your outstanding principal. This has a compounding benefit — less principal means less interest charged each month, which means more of every future payment goes toward capital. Even a modest extra payment of R1,000 per month on a R1.5m bond at 11.5% can save over R400,000 in interest and shorten the loan by more than 5 years. Contact your bank to ensure extra payments are applied to the capital balance.