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Estimate how much you can borrow for a home loan based on your income, expenses and a serviceability buffer.
Lenders assess whether you can afford repayments using a higher rate (buffer) and limit repayments to a share of income. This calculator gives an approximate maximum loan amount. Your actual borrowing capacity is set by your lender.
Consider
Your estimate is capped by the max repayment ratio. A larger deposit could improve how much you can borrow.
Maximum loan amount (estimate)
$297,317
Assessment rate
9.50% p.a.
Max monthly repayment
$2,500
Capped by max repayment ratio.
Estimate only. Lenders use their own serviceability rules. Your actual borrowing capacity may differ.
Every row holds the calculator’s own starting assumptions — $4,000 a month of living expenses, a 6.5% rate assessed at 9.5% and a 30-year term — so the only thing changing is income. These are illustrative salary steps rather than thresholds: borrowing power moves continuously, so there is no income at which the rules change.
| Income | Could borrow about | Monthly repayment | What limits it |
|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $118,927 | $1,000 | What is left after expenses |
| $80,000 | $237,853 | $2,000 | The 30% repayment cap |
| $100,000 | $297,317 | $2,500 | The 30% repayment cap |
| $120,000 | $356,780 | $3,000 | The 30% repayment cap |
| $150,000 | $445,975 | $3,750 | The 30% repayment cap |
| $200,000 | $594,633 | $5,000 | The 30% repayment cap |
Notice what limits the loan changes partway down. Below about $68,572 what limits the loan is the money left after living expenses, so cutting spending lifts it. Above that the 30% cap on repayments binds instead, and trimming expenses changes nothing — only more income, a longer term or a lower assessment rate will. Most answers to “how much can I borrow” never say which of the two you are up against, and it decides what is worth doing about it.
Lenders apply their own expense benchmarks, income shading and buffers, so treat these as a starting estimate rather than an offer. Use the calculator above for your own figures.
This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.
Borrowing power is the maximum amount a lender will let you borrow for a home loan. It depends on your income, existing debts, living expenses and the lender's serviceability rules.
Lenders stress-test your application by adding a serviceability buffer to the current interest rate, checking whether you could still afford repayments if rates rise. This is not a matter of lender preference: APRA's prudential guidance (APG 223) expects authorised deposit-taking institutions to assess you at a rate at least 3 percentage points above the loan product rate — a regulatory floor, raised from 2.5% in November 2021. Individual lenders can and do apply a larger buffer, and a narrow exception exists for some like-for-like refinances, but no lender regulated by APRA should be assessing you at less. They also cap how much of your income can go toward the loan — typically around 30% of gross income.
On $100,000 a year, this calculator's default assumptions give about $297,317. That is deliberately conservative, and it is lower than the figures you will see quoted elsewhere, so it is worth knowing why. Two limits apply and the tighter one wins. The first caps repayments at 30% of gross income — $2,500 a month here — and the second caps them at whatever is left after living expenses. At this income the 30% cap binds first, which is why changing the expenses field does not move the result until your expenses climb past that point. The repayment is then converted to a loan size at the assessment rate, not the actual rate: 6.5% plus a 3% APRA serviceability buffer, so 9.5% over 30 years. Lenders differ on all three inputs — many assess a higher share of income, count rental or bonus income we do not, and use their own buffer — so an approval can land well above this. Treat it as a floor to plan from rather than a ceiling, and adjust the rate, buffer and repayment share above to match a specific lender's policy.
Yes. Lenders factor in your HECS/HELP repayment as a recurring expense once your income hits the repayment threshold.
Usually yes. Two incomes increase total borrowing power, though expenses are also assessed together.
A serviceability buffer is an extra percentage lenders add to the interest rate when assessing your application, to check you could still afford repayments if rates rise. APRA sets the minimum: its prudential guidance expects banks and other authorised deposit-taking institutions to assess borrowers at least 3 percentage points above the loan product rate. That has been the floor since November 2021, when APRA lifted it from 2.5%. Lenders may use a larger buffer than 3%, so the amount you are actually approved for can be lower than an estimate built on the minimum.
Estimates only. Not financial or tax advice. Full disclaimer for your rights and our limitations of liability.
This calculator exists to show you the arithmetic. It applies published Australian rates, thresholds and formulas to the numbers you enter and shows the working, so you can check it. That is all it does — it produces a number and describes what the number is. It does not recommend anything and it holds no opinion about any financial product.
What can move this result
This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.