When you sell a home you bought with CPF, you must put back into your CPF account every dollar you withdrew for it, plus the interest that money would have earned if it had stayed there. That interest is called accrued interest. It is worked out at the CPF Ordinary Account (OA) rate, currently 2.5% a year. Below age 55 the whole refund goes back to your OA. From 55 it first tops up your Retirement Account to your Full Retirement Sum.
Figures as at 10 October 2026. Check the official source before acting.
What accrued interest is
CPF Board defines accrued interest as the interest you would have earned if your CPF savings had not been withdrawn for housing. It is not a charge or a penalty. The money is not lost: it goes back into your own CPF account. But it is paid out of your sale proceeds, so it reduces the cash you take home.
The refund covers:
- the principal: everything withdrawn from your OA for the property, including the downpayment, monthly instalments, stamp duty and legal fees;
- the accrued interest on that principal;
- for HDB flats, any CPF housing grants you received, with their accrued interest.
How it is worked out
- Rate. The OA rate is reviewed every quarter. It has a legislated minimum of 2.5% a year, and for October to December 2026 it is 2.5%.
- Computation. Interest is worked out on the amount withdrawn for housing, at the OA rate, and compounded once a year.
- Period. It runs from the date each sum was withdrawn until the date you refund it.
- Interest on interest. Because it compounds, the amount owed grows faster the longer you hold. A sum left for 12 years at 2.5% grows by about 34%.
Your exact figure is in the Home Ownership dashboard on the CPF website, in the "What Happens If" section. Ask for it before you agree a price, so that you know how much cash you will actually receive.
Why monthly instalments accrue less than a lump sum
Interest runs only from the date each sum was withdrawn. A downpayment paid from CPF on day one accrues interest for the whole time you own the home. An instalment paid last month has barely started.
Many owners pay their instalments from CPF month after month. So a large part of their CPF principal was withdrawn recently, and the accrued interest is lower than if the whole amount had been withdrawn at the start.
Example (hypothetical): an owner sells after 12 years, having used S$200,000 of CPF in total. We ran PropAce's sale proceeds calculator at the 2.5% OA rate. The calculator treats every input as one sum withdrawn at the start. To show the effect of instalments, we also split the same S$200,000 into an S$80,000 downpayment and S$120,000 of instalments. We modelled the instalments as one sum held for 6 years, the midpoint of 12 years of even payments, which is an approximation.
| How the S$200,000 was used | Accrued interest | Total refund to CPF |
|---|---|---|
| All withdrawn 12 years ago | S$68,978 | S$268,978 |
| S$80,000 downpayment, 12 years ago | S$27,591 | S$107,591 |
| S$120,000 of instalments, about 6 years on average | S$19,163 | S$139,163 |
| Split total | S$46,754 | S$246,754 |
On the same principal, spreading the CPF use over 12 years cuts the accrued interest by about S$22,000 in this example. That is why the calculator's figure is an upper estimate if you paid instalments from CPF. Your CPF statement gives the real number.
Where the refund goes
| Your age when you sell | Where the refund goes |
|---|---|
| Below 55 | Your Ordinary Account |
| 55 and above | First to your Retirement Account (RA), until it reaches your Full Retirement Sum (FRS). Anything left stays in your OA. |
The FRS depends on the year you turn 55:
| Year you turn 55 | Full Retirement Sum |
|---|---|
| 2025 | S$213,000 |
| 2026 | S$220,400 |
Example (hypothetical): an owner who turns 55 in 2026 sells, and the refund is S$268,978. Their RA holds S$150,000. The first S$70,400 tops the RA up to S$220,400, and the remaining S$198,578 stays in the OA. Members aged 55 and above can also ask to withdraw refunded OA savings in cash. Anything withdrawn no longer earns CPF interest.
If you were 55 or older before 1 January 2013 and had set aside your FRS by then, the refund you must make can be smaller. Check your statement.
If the sale price is not enough
The outstanding loan is paid first. If what is left does not cover the full CPF refund, you do not have to top up the difference in cash, as long as you sold at market value. The refund is then the selling price less the outstanding loan. Any cash option money the buyer paid you counts as part of the price and goes towards the refund.
Can you reduce it?
You can make a voluntary housing refund to your OA at any time. Once the money is back in your account, interest on it stops building up as a refund obligation, and it earns OA interest for you instead. Whether this suits you depends on your cash needs.
To see how the refund changes your cash, use the sale proceeds calculator. If you are selling an HDB flat, the HDB cash-out page shows the refund and what the cash could fund next.
Frequently asked questions
Is accrued interest a cost?
It is not paid to anyone else. It goes back into your own CPF account. But it comes out of your sale proceeds, so it reduces the cash in hand.
Why is my CPF statement figure lower than an online calculator's?
Most calculators, including PropAce's, assume all the CPF was withdrawn at the start. If you paid instalments from CPF, much of the money was withdrawn later and has accrued less.
Do I have to refund grants too?
Yes, for an HDB flat. CPF housing grants are refunded to your CPF account with their accrued interest when you sell.
I am over 55. Can I take the refund as cash?
The refund first tops up your Retirement Account to your Full Retirement Sum. Anything above that stays in your OA, and from 55 you can apply to withdraw it.
What if I sell at a loss?
If you sold at market value, you refund what is left after the loan and you do not top up the shortfall in cash.
Sources
- CPF Board: Why do I need to refund the accrued interest: the definition of accrued interest, the period it runs for and yearly compounding.
- CPF Board: Sales proceeds after selling your home: refunding housing grants with their accrued interest, and voluntary housing refunds.
- CPF Board: CPF refund when selling or transferring property: principal plus interest, refunds below and above 55, the pre-2013 rule, sales at market value, cash option money and the "What Happens If" dashboard.
- CPF Board: Selling your flat at 55 and CPF refunds: the top-up of the Retirement Account to the FRS and the balance remaining in the OA.
- CPF Board: What are the CPF interest rates: the 2.5% OA rate and its legislated minimum.
- CPF Board: What is the CPF retirement sum: the Full Retirement Sum by cohort.
- CPF Board: Make a voluntary housing refund: refunding before you sell.
- CPF Board: HDB option fee and housing expenses: stamp duty and legal fees paid from CPF are refunded on sale.