Borrowing power calculator
The most a lender might lend you, and the price that buys, from your income, spending and debts.
You could buy up to
$390,000
Indicative max purchase price, rounded down to the nearest $10,000.
- Max loan
- $313,604
- Your deposit
- $100,000
- Buying costs
- $18,250
- Tested at
- 9.00%
Show the working
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Income before tax, as entered | $95,000 |
| Take-home pay, after income tax and the Medicare levy | $74,080 |
| Loan rate you entered, plus the APRA serviceability buffer | 9.00% |
| Declared living expenses | $42,000 |
| Existing debt repayments (annualised) | $1,800 |
| Maximum annual repayment this leaves | $30,280 |
| Maximum loan at the buffer-adjusted rate | $313,604.16 |
| Plus your deposit | $100,000 |
| Minus estimated buying costs at that price | $18,250.20 |
| Maximum purchase price | $395,353.96 |
This is an indicative estimate from your inputs, one real regulatory rule (the serviceability buffer) and the ATO's resident tax rates. Tax offsets are left out, so tax is never understated; HELP repayments are not taken off unless you add them as a debt. It is not a lender's assessment and does not use any lender's actual shading percentages or expense benchmark, because those aren't published as open data. Your real borrowing capacity will differ. Nothing you enter leaves your browser (Privacy).
How it works
- Each applicant’s income, less resident income taxATO and the Medicare levyATO, gives take-home pay. Minus your living expenses and debt repayments, what is left is what a home loan can use.
- That repayment is tested at your rate plus APRA’s serviceability bufferAPRA, which sets the maximum loan.
- Loan plus deposit, minus stamp duty and buying costs for your state, gives the price.
- A result at 6× your income or more is flagged against APRA’s debt-to-income limitAPRA.
This is the lender ceiling, not your own safe spending level — see the three ceilings in the safe-budget guide. For all three, and the price they add up to, use What can I buy?
Worked examples
| Household | Indicative max price |
|---|---|
| A single income, modest expenses$75,000 income before tax · $60,480 take-home · $32,000 expenses · no debts · $60,000 deposit · 6.0% rate | $330,000 |
| Two incomes, a car loan$165,000 income before tax · $131,160 take-home · $58,000 expenses · $450/mo car loan · $150,000 deposit · 6.0% rate | $800,000 |
| A single income, a credit card (the guide's own worked example)$95,000 income before tax · $74,080 take-home · $42,000 expenses · $150/mo credit card · $100,000 deposit · 6.0% rate | $390,000 |
Frequently asked
How do lenders actually calculate borrowing power?
Lenders shade variable income, compare your expenses against a standardised benchmark, assess credit cards against their limit rather than your balance, and then apply the serviceability buffer on top of all three — see how lenders actually calculate what you can borrow. None of the shading percentages or the benchmark figure are published as open data, so this calculator uses your own declared numbers instead of guessing at a lender's, and tests repayments against your take-home pay, after income tax and the Medicare levy.
What is the serviceability buffer?
A margin APRA expects every bank, building society and credit union to add to a loan's actual interest rate before testing whether you could still repay it (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026) — a system-wide safeguard, not a personal affordability decision. See the safe-budget guide for what it's actually for.
Why might this differ from a bank's own pre-approval figure?
Because a real lender also applies income shading and its own expense benchmark (the HEM), neither of which is published — see the first question above. This calculator is deliberately transparent about using only your own numbers plus the two regulatory facts that are public and cited.
What is the debt-to-income (DTI) flag?
From 1 February 2026, APRA limits how much of a lender's new mortgage lending can be written at 6 times or more of a borrower's income (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026). It's a limit on the lender's overall portfolio, not a personal cap — but if your result is flagged, it's worth asking whether DTI, not just serviceability, could be the binding constraint on your application.
Sources and methodology
- Strengthening residential mortgage lending assessments | APRA — Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (retrieved 6 Oct 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0
- Activation of debt-to-income limits as a macroprudential policy tool | APRA — Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (retrieved 6 Oct 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0
- Tax rates - Australian residents | Australian Taxation Office — Australian Taxation Office (retrieved 23 Oct 2026). Licence: ATO copyright notice — free reproduction, non-endorsement condition only
Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.