Borrowing capacity calculator

There’s a difference between what you’d like to borrow and what a lender will actually approve, and that gap catches a lot of buyers out.

Our borrowing capacity calculator estimates the figure a lender is likely to land on, based on your income, expenses and financial position, so you know where you genuinely stand.

Think of it as the lender’s-eye view, alongside our Buying Power Calculator, which looks at the same question from the property price side.

We cover the full list of factors that shape your borrowing power, income, expenses, debts, deposit and credit history on our Buying Power Calculator page. Here, it’s worth understanding the one thing that trips people up most: the assessment rate.

Lenders don’t just check whether you can afford repayments at today’s rate. Under guidance from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), they test your repayments at a buffer above it, typically a minimum of three percentage points, to make sure you’d still cope if rates rose. That’s usually why the number from one lender can look more conservative than you’d expect.

• Shows a realistic loan amount rather than a best-case guess.
• Highlights how sensitive your capacity is to expenses and existing debt.
• Prepares you for the conversation about pre-approval before you have it.
• Flags when it’s worth waiting, paying down a debt or adjusting your deposit first.

Every lender applies its own policy on top of the same basic inputs, which is why your capacity can genuinely vary from bank to bank.

• Some weigh rental income, bonuses or self-employed earnings more conservatively than others.
• Living expense benchmarks differ between lenders, and some apply a higher buffer than the regulatory minimum.
• A lender that’s actively chasing new customers in your loan bracket may simply price more competitively at that point in time.

This is exactly where a broker earns their keep. We know which lenders tend to look more favourably on your particular situation, rather than sending you to the first one that comes to mind.

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• Savings Goal Calculator
• Stamp Duty Calculator