Estimate how much you can borrow for a home loan based on your income and expenses.
Here are the details you’ll need to enter:
Your total household income after tax, either as a weekly, monthly or annual amount. This includes your spouse’s income if you’re borrowing as joint applicants.
Monthly living expenses including your household's spending on bills, groceries, and other loans, as well as discretionary costs like dining out and entertainment.
This is the amount you'd like to have leftover each month after your mortgage repayments and other expenses have been deducted (e.g. how much you'd like to be able to put into savings).
What is the expected home loan interest rate you’ll be charged?
How long is your home loan term? (25 or 30 years, or in some cases a 40 year mortgage)
After you’ve entered in these details, our calculator will give you an estimate of your borrowing power. By analysing this information, our calculator helps you understand how much you may be able to borrow for a home loan, giving you a clearer picture of your financial options and guiding your property search.
The size of the deposit is a significant factor in determining how much you can borrow. A larger deposit not only increases borrowing capacity but can also lead to more favourable interest rates.
For homeowners, the equity in your current property can be leveraged to secure additional borrowing. Usable equity allows you to access funds based on the value of your home.
Lenders will assess your total income after tax to evaluate your ability to service the loan (i.e. make repayments). Higher income typically results in a greater borrowing capacity.
Your monthly living expenses are crucial in calculating how much disposable income is available for loan repayments. Lower expenses enables you to allocate more of your income towards a mortgage.
Additional factors such as existing debts, credit history, your assets and liabilities, how many dependants you have, and the overall economic climate also play a role in determining your borrowing capacity.
According to Money.com.au’s analysis of more than 20,000 home loan customers, the average borrower in Australia in 2026 has a deposit of around $173,000 and borrows just over $675,000. Our data shows self-employed borrowers tend to have a higher borrowing capacity than employees. As you would expect, joint borrowers borrow more than individuals.
Household expenditure measure (HEM) is a benchmark that lenders use to estimate a borrower’s living expenses during the assessment of home loan applications.
It provides a standard measure of typical household spending based on factors like income and family size. Lenders may adjust the HEM to tighten lending criteria in specific scenarios, such as for single-income households, and these adjustments often occur regularly.
Most lenders in Australia prefer larger deposits as a percentage of the property's value. That said, you can generally borrow up to 95% of the value of the property (i.e. a 5% deposit).
If you want a quick role of thumb for understanding the maximum amount you may be able to borrow with a 5% deposit, simply multiply your deposit amount by 20.
Just remember, your actual borrowing capacity will be based on much more than your deposit. How much you can afford to repay each month is also crucial.
For example, if you have a large deposit and a low income, a lender may not be willing to lend a high percentage of the property value, as that would mean a high loan amount with large regular repayments.
 | Laboratories Credit Union Simple Home Loan Owner OccupiedInterest rate 5.69% per annum (variable) Comparison rate 5.71% per annum App Fee: $200 Max LVR 95% | Compare now on Money.com.au or visit site |
 | South West Slopes Bank Intro Discounted Standard Variable Home LoanInterest rate 5.70% per annum (variable) Comparison rate 6.06% per annum Redraw Offset Max LVR 90% | Compare now on Money.com.au or visit site |
 | Pacific Mortgage Group Owner Occupied Variable Home LoanInterest rate 5.84% per annum (variable) Comparison rate 5.84% per annum Redraw Max LVR 80% | Compare now on Money.com.au or visit site |
 | Border Bank First Home LoanInterest rate 5.84% per annum (variable) Comparison rate 5.91% per annum Max LVR 98% | Compare now on Money.com.au or visit site |
| Border Bank First Home LoanInterest rate 5.84% per annum (variable) Comparison rate 5.91% per annum Max LVR 98% | Compare now on Money.com.au or visit site |
Good borrowing power usually refers to the ability to comfortably afford a loan based on your income, expenses and overall financial situation. It means having a sufficient income relative to your debts and living expenses, allowing you to meet mortgage repayments without straining your budget.
Typically, a higher borrower power suggests that you can qualify for a larger loan amount, which can open up more options for purchasing a home. According to CBA, a good rule of thumb is that your mortgage repayments shouldn’t exceed 30% of your net income, ensuring you have enough flexibility for other expenses and savings.
Each lender has their own debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. Here’s a basic example showing you how to calculate your DTI ratio:
This means your total debt is 3.36 times your combined income. A DTI of 3.36 indicates a relatively low debt burden compared to income, which lenders may view favourably when assessing your borrowing capacity.
Your borrowing power is generally determined by subtracting your monthly expenses from your net income. For example, if your expenses are $4,000 per month and your net income is $14,000, you would have $10,000 per month available to put towards servicing a mortgage.
Several factors can influence your expenses, including the number of dependents in your household, current home or personal loan repayments, and other financial obligations like health insurance and credit card payments. Keep in mind that our borrowing power calculator provides only an estimate and does not guarantee that you'll be approved for that amount. Each lender has different lending criteria, making every situation unique.
Home loan comparison rates are calculated based on a loan amount of $150,000 repaid over a 25-year term with monthly repayments. The comparison rates only apply to the examples given. Different loan amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees or early repayment fees and cost savings such as fee waivers are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan. Check with the provider for full loan details, including rates, fees, eligibility and terms and conditions to make sure the product is right for you.
General information only
The information on this page is general in nature and has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether the information provided and the nature of any home loan product is suitable for you and seek independent financial advice if necessary.
We are not providing you with a recommendation or suggestion about a particular home loan. You should read the relevant disclosure statements or other offer documents before deciding whether to apply for or continue to use a particular product.
What products, features and information are shown
While we make every effort to ensure all home loans available in Australia are shown in our comparison tables, we do not guarantee that all products are included.
Our product comparisons may not compare all home loan features and attributes relevant to you.
Product information, such as interest rates, fees and charges, is subject to change without notice. Before acting on any information, you should confirm the relevant product information with the lender.
How home loans are sorted and filtered by default
Users can easily change the sort order and apply product filters to our product comparison tables. However, when you arrive on a page initially, by default home loans are sorted by:
Some home loan products listed in our tables are available through a mortgage broker. These are the products with an option to ‘Check Eligibility on Money.com.au’. Mortgage brokers may not be able to offer loans from every provider and there may be more suitable loans for your personal circumstances.
Mortgage brokers are not authorised by Money Australian Credit Licence and operate under their own Australian Credit Licence, or as a credit representative of another Australian Credit Licensee. Mortgage brokers can make recommendations about home loan products that may suit your objectives, financial situation and needs.
Our tables feature all home loans available from lenders on our database that match the search criteria selected. Lenders do not pay to feature in our tables, nor do we earn commission if you click to visit a lender’s website. The order of the products in the table is not influenced by any commercial arrangements.
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