Enter your income, living costs and debts to estimate how much you could borrow for a home in Australia, tested the way banks do with APRA's 3% buffer, the price it buys with your deposit and your debt-to-income ratio.
How to use the borrowing power calculator
- Choose whether you're applying on your own or with a partner, and enter each salary before tax.
- Enter your living costs a month, the interest rate you're offered and your deposit.
- Open the extra section for rental income, other loans, credit card limits and the lender's settings.
- Read how much you could borrow, the price it buys, the repayment and your debt-to-income ratio.
Worked example
On a $100,000 salary in 2026-27, take-home pay is $77,800 a year ($6,483.33 a month after the $1,000 standard deduction, tax and Medicare). Less $3,000 of living costs leaves $3,483.33 a month. Tested at 6% + 3% = 9% over 30 years, that repays about $432,915, and with an $80,000 deposit buys a home of about $512,915. The real repayment at 6% is $2,595.55 a month and debt is 4.3 times income. A $10,000 credit card limit cuts the loan to about $385,688. A couple on $100,000 and $70,000 with $4,500 of living costs could borrow about $840,974.
How it's worked out
- Income after tax, Medicare levy and HELP repayments (2026-27 rates); rent counted at 80%
- Less living costs, other loan repayments and 3.8% of credit card limits a month
- The loan that amount repays over the term at your rate + 3%
- Debt-to-income: the loan, other debts and card limits ÷ gross income; 6 or more is limited from February 2026
Sources: APRA (serviceability buffer, APG 223, debt-to-income limits from February 2026), Australian Taxation Office 2026-27 tax rates. Everything runs in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
How do banks work out how much I can borrow?
They take your income after tax, subtract your living costs and the repayments on your other debts, and check that what's left would cover the new loan's repayments at an interest rate at least 3 percentage points above the real one (APRA's serviceability buffer). The loan those repayments could pay off over the term is roughly your borrowing power.
How much can I borrow on $100,000?
On your own with $3,000 a month of living costs and no other debts, about $433,000 at a 6% rate: your take-home pay of about $6,483 a month leaves $3,483 for the loan, which repays $433,000 over 30 years when tested at 9%. The real repayment at 6% would be about $2,596 a month.
What is the 3% serviceability buffer?
APRA expects banks to check you could still repay if your interest rate were at least 3 percentage points higher. It has been 3% since October 2021. Some non-bank lenders aren't bound by it.
What is the debt-to-income limit?
From 1 February 2026, APRA limits loans where your total debt is 6 or more times your gross income to 20% of each bank's new home lending. Those loans aren't banned, but they can be harder to get. Credit card limits and other loans count towards the debt.
Why do my credit cards reduce what I can borrow?
Lenders count a repayment on your card limits whether or not you use them, commonly about 3.8% of the limit a month. A $10,000 limit takes $380 a month off what's available for the loan, about $47,000 less borrowing at 6%. Closing or lowering unused cards helps.
Will a lender use my living costs?
They use the higher of what you declare and a benchmark, usually the Household Expenditure Measure (HEM), which depends on your income, family size and location. If your figure is below their benchmark, they'll use theirs, so you may be able to borrow less than this estimate.
