Borrowing Power Calculator

Pay Off Your Home Faster

Find out how much you can realistically borrow before you start comparing properties. Our borrowing power calculator Australia investors rely on analyses your income, expenses, and existing debts to estimate your borrowing capacity, so every property decision starts with numbers you can trust.

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What Our Home Loan Borrowing Calculator Reveals

Your True Borrowing Capacity After the Lender’s Buffer

Australian lenders stress-test your application at a rate roughly 3% above the actual loan rate. This borrowing power calculator applies that same buffer, so the figure you see reflects what a lender would realistically approve and not an inflated estimate.

How Existing Debts Reduce What You Can Borrow

Credit cards, car loans, and buy-now-pay-later accounts all reduce your borrowing capacity and even unused credit limits. This loan calculator Australia investors trust quantifies that drag so you can act on it before applying.

Whether Your Income Supports Your Next Property Goal

Salary, rental income, and secondary earnings are all treated differently by lenders. Our calculator models these income streams accurately so you know if your next acquisition is within reach.

Frequently asked questions

Lenders assess several elements to determine how much can I borrow mortgage applicants often ask about: your gross income (including salary, rental income, and any secondary earnings), living expenses, existing debt obligations such as credit cards and car loans, the number of dependants, the loan term, and the interest rate with an APRA-mandated serviceability buffer applied. Each lender weighs these factors slightly differently, which is why your borrowing figure can vary between institutions. A common mistake we see is applicants forgetting that even unused credit card limits are treated as potential liabilities, reducing their assessed capacity before they even apply.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority requires all authorised deposit-taking institutions to assess your ability to repay at your loan’s interest rate plus a minimum 3% buffer. In practice, if your actual rate is 6%, the lender tests your serviceability at 9%. This buffer is the single largest constraint on borrowing capacity for most Australians. Our borrowing capacity calculator applies this buffer automatically, so your estimate aligns with what lenders will realistically assess rather than what a simplified calculator without the buffer might suggest.

You can use this borrowing power calculator for both owner-occupied and investment property scenarios. The key difference is that investment loans typically carry a slightly higher interest rate, and lenders generally only count 70–80% of expected rental income toward your serviceability. Adjust the inputs to reflect the loan type you are considering, and the calculator will model your capacity accordingly. Based on our experience working with hundreds of investors, the rental income treatment alone can shift your assessed borrowing capacity significantly, so it is important to model it rather than assume.

Every lender applies its own credit policies on top of the standard serviceability model. Some banks treat overtime and commission income differently, others use the Household Expenditure Measure (HEM) rather than your declared expenses if your declared figure is lower than their benchmark, and debt-to-income ratio caps vary between institutions. This loan calculator Australia borrowers use provides a strong directional estimate, but a formal pre-approval involves a full credit assessment that accounts for lender-specific rules. We recommend using the calculator to establish your baseline, then working with a broker or lender who can confirm the exact figure.

In most cases, yes. Lenders typically assess approximately 3% of your total credit card limit as a monthly liability regardless of whether you carry a balance. A card with a $15,000 limit that you never use is still treated as roughly $450 per month in potential commitments, which directly reduces how much can I borrow home loan applicants are eligible for. Cancelling or reducing the limit on cards you do not actively need is one of the fastest ways to increase your assessed borrowing capacity before lodging an application.

It is worth recalculating your borrowing capacity every time the Reserve Bank of Australia adjusts the cash rate, or whenever your personal financial circumstances change materially — such as a salary increase, paying off a debt, or adding a new financial commitment. Because the serviceability buffer amplifies every rate movement, even a 0.25% rate cut can shift your borrowing power by tens of thousands of dollars in either direction. Running the calculator regularly ensures you are working with current numbers rather than outdated assumptions when evaluating your next property move.