Preparing financially
What can I buy?
Jurisdiction: Australia-wide. Duty, concessions and fees for the state or territory you choose; suburb prices for Victoria and Greater Sydney.
Most calculators tell you the most a bank might lend. This one works out three limits on what you can pay, gives you the lowest, and shows what it means: your deposit, your loan, your repayments if rates rise, and the suburbs where it buys a home.
Your safe top price
Example: a single first home buyer in melbourne
$483,000
This household’s safe top price, set by its life ceiling. Change the numbers below to see yours.
Your limits
- Lender ceiling$511,000what a lender’s serviceability test could support
- Cash ceiling$737,000what your savings cover: the deposit and the up-front costs
- Life ceiling Sets your price$483,000what the repayment you’re comfortable with supports
- Scheme price cap$950,000the most the 5% Deposit Scheme allows here
How we got this
The steps behind each ceiling appear here once the calculator has your numbers. The method is set out under how the safe top price is worked out.
Assumptions and sources
- Take-home pay
- Each earner’s income less resident income tax (Australian Taxation Office, verified 23 Oct 2026) and the Medicare levy (Australian Taxation Office, verified 23 Oct 2026). The low income tax offset and the levy’s low-income reduction are left out, so tax is never understated. HELP or HECS repayments aren’t taken off: add yours to other debt repayments. Debt-to-income uses before-tax income.
- Serviceability buffer
- The lender ceiling tests repayments at your rate plus 3 percentage points (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026). Real lenders also shade some income and use their own expense benchmark; neither is published, so this uses your own numbers.
- Deposit
- 20% of the price, so the loan stays at 80%, above which lenders may charge LMI (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026). With the 5% Deposit Scheme, 5% (Housing Australia, verified 7 Oct 2026).
- Up-front costs
- Duty, concessions and land registry fees from the same rules as the stamp duty calculator, for a contract dated 1 October 2026. Conveyancing, inspections, lender fees and LMI are not included: put your own figure in the set-aside box.
- Grants
- Shown, never counted as cash: most are paid at settlement, after the deposit is due.
- Rate rises
- Repayments are tested at 1, 2 and 3 points higher, the rise Moneysmart suggests checking (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026).
- Debt-to-income
- Flagged at 6 times income (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026).
We could not work that out.
The numbers on this page have not changed. Try different numbers, or reload the page. The rates, thresholds and worked examples on this page do not need the calculator.
Suburbs within reach
Suburbs whose latest median price is at or below your safe top price, closest to it first, from the same data as the suburb finder.
Work out your safe top price above and the list appears here. You can also filter every suburb by price in the suburb finder.
Three households, three different limits
Computed at build time with the same engine as the calculator, at the average new owner-occupier rate of 6.15%. Each household is held back by a different ceiling, shown in bold. Select one to load it into the calculator.
| Household | Lender | Cash | Life | Scheme cap | Safe top price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A single first home buyer in Melbourne $105,000 income, $38,000 expenses, $75,000 saved, $2,500 a month comfortable, 5% Deposit Scheme | $511,000 | $737,000 | $483,000 | $950,000 | $483,000 life ceiling |
| A couple upgrading in Sydney $120,000 and $100,000 incomes, $72,000 expenses, $260,000 saved, $5,600 a month comfortable | $1,145,000 | $1,083,000 | $1,133,000 | not used | $1,083,000 cash ceiling |
| A first home buyer couple in Brisbane, new home $70,000 and $50,000 incomes, $60,000 expenses, $90,000 saved, $4,600 a month comfortable, 5% Deposit Scheme | $465,000 | $1,652,000 | $841,000 | $1,000,000 | $465,000 lender ceiling |
How the safe top price is worked out
The safe-budget guide sets out three ceilings on what you can pay. A bank tells you only the first. This page works out all three as purchase prices and takes the lowest.
- Lender ceiling. Take-home pay, worked out for each earner from the resident tax rates (Australian Taxation Office, verified 23 Oct 2026) and the 2% Medicare levy (Australian Taxation Office, verified 23 Oct 2026), less living expenses and debt repayments, tested at your rate plus the 3-point serviceability buffer every lender must apply (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026), gives the largest loan a lender’s test could support. Add the cash you have after up-front costs.
- Cash ceiling. Your savings must cover the deposit and the up-front government costs at the price. The deposit is 20%, because above a loan of 80% of the price lenders may charge lenders mortgage insurance (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026), or 5% with the 5% Deposit Scheme, which removes LMI (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026). Duty, concessions and fees come from the stamp duty calculator’s rules for your state.
- Life ceiling. The monthly repayment you are comfortable with, at your actual rate, supports a loan. Only you can set this one, and it is often the lowest.
If you use the 5% Deposit Scheme, its price cap is a fourth limit. The caps for first home buyers:
| State or territory | Capital city and regional centres | Rest of the state | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | $1,500,000 | $800,000 | (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026) |
| Victoria | $950,000 | $650,000 | (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026) |
| Queensland | $1,000,000 | $700,000 | (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026) |
| Western Australia | $850,000 | $600,000 | (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026) |
| South Australia | $900,000 | $500,000 | (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026) |
| Tasmania | $700,000 | $550,000 | (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026) |
| Australian Capital Territory | $1,000,000 | same | (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026) |
| Northern Territory | $750,000 | $600,000 | (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026) |
Then it shows what the safe price means: your deposit and loan, the loan as a share of the price, and the monthly repayment now and if rates rise 1, 2 or 3 points (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026). A loan of 6 times your income or more is flagged, because APRA limits how much of that lending banks can write (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026).
Frequently asked
Why is this lower than what a bank says I can borrow?
A bank works out the most its test allows, the lender ceiling. It doesn’t know what repayment you can live with, or that you want money left after settlement. The safe top price is the lowest of all three ceilings, so it is often below a pre-approval. See the safe-budget guide.
What up-front costs are included?
Stamp duty (after any first home buyer concession or exemption) and the land registry fees for the transfer and the mortgage, for the state you pick, from the same rules as the stamp duty calculator. Conveyancing, building and pest inspections, lender fees, lenders mortgage insurance and moving are not, because they vary by provider. Put your own estimate in the set-aside box.
Why isn’t the first home owner grant counted in my cash?
Most grants are paid at settlement, weeks after you pay the deposit at exchange. Counting one as deposit money could leave you short on the day it matters. The result shows the grant so you know it is coming.
Is anything I enter stored or sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs in your browser. Your numbers are kept only in the page address, so you can bookmark or share the result. See Privacy.
Which suburbs does the list cover?
Delora has suburb prices for Victoria and Greater Sydney. In other states the safe top price still applies; there is just no suburb list yet. A median is the middle sale price, so about half of homes in a suburb sold for more.
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
- Save for a house deposit | Moneysmart.gov.au — ASIC (Moneysmart) (retrieved 22 Oct 2026). Reuse terms: see the publisher's site
- Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme | First Home Buyers — Housing Australia (retrieved 7 Oct 2026). Reuse terms: see the publisher's site
- Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme | First Home Buyers — Housing Australia (retrieved 22 Oct 2026). Reuse terms: see the publisher's site
- Lenders' Interest Rates | RBA — Reserve Bank of Australia (retrieved 22 Oct 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0
- Choosing a home loan | Moneysmart.gov.au — ASIC (Moneysmart) (retrieved 22 Oct 2026). Reuse terms: see the publisher's site
- Tax rates - Australian residents | Australian Taxation Office — Australian Taxation Office (retrieved 23 Oct 2026). Licence: ATO copyright notice — free reproduction, non-endorsement condition only
- Property price caps | First Home Buyers — Housing Australia (retrieved 22 Oct 2026). Reuse terms: see the publisher's site
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.
Evidence record