How much house can I afford? Property affordability calculator

On this calculator's method, a single applicant on $100,000 with no other debts can afford a purchase price of about $520,000 with a 20% deposit: the bank takes net income as 72% of gross, deducts the indicative HEM living-expense floor of $2,000 a month for a single person at that income (October 2026), caps repayments at 85% of what is left, and tests them at 9.2% over 30 years. A couple on $100,000 combined affords about $415,000 because the couple's HEM is higher. The deposit is the other limit: $520,000 needs about $104,000 saved plus buying costs.

About $645,000 with a 20% deposit, against about $750,000 for the same couple with no children. The difference is the living-expense floor: the indicative HEM for a couple with two children on $150,000 is $4,020 a month compared with $3,220 for a couple alone (October 2026), and every dollar of monthly expenses removes roughly $130 of borrowing capacity at a 9.2% assessment rate over 30 years. Childcare, school fees and a car loan come off on top of HEM, so a family's real figure is often lower again.

The calculator runs two tests and takes the lower result. First, it calculates the maximum purchase price your deposit can support at your chosen deposit percentage. Second, it estimates your borrowing capacity using your income, expenses, and the HEM benchmark, the same method Australian banks use. The binding constraint (whichever limits you more) determines your affordable purchase price.

If you are deposit-limited, your savings are the bottleneck: even if a bank would lend you more, you don't have enough deposit for a higher-priced property. If you are serviceability-limited, your income cannot support repayments on a larger loan, but your deposit could cover a higher purchase price if you could borrow more.

In addition to your deposit, you need to cover stamp duty, conveyancing fees, building inspections, and other settlement costs. These typically add 4 to 6% on top of the purchase price. The calculator uses approximately 7% of savings as a buffer for these costs, leaving the rest available as your deposit.

Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) is a one-off premium charged by lenders when your deposit is less than 20% of the purchase price (i.e. LVR above 80%). LMI protects the lender, not you, in case you default. The cost typically ranges from 0.5% to 2.5% of the loan amount and can usually be added to (capitalised into) your loan. Saving a 20% deposit avoids LMI entirely.

This is an estimate based on simplified assumptions. Actual borrowing capacity varies by lender, your credit history, employment type, and other factors. Stamp duty rates also vary by state and buyer status. Use our Stamp Duty Calculator for a precise duty estimate, and speak with a mortgage broker for a personalised borrowing assessment.

A bank deducts the higher of the living expenses you declare and the Household Expenditure Measure (HEM) for a household like yours before it works out what you can repay, so declaring less than HEM does not lift the figure, while a couple with children carries a higher floor than a single person on the same income. This calculator applies an indicative HEM by household, income band and location; the table below shows the floors and the prices they leave. Rent and mortgage payments are not in HEM, and childcare, school fees, HECS and loan repayments come off on top of it.

Almost never. Buying at your absolute ceiling leaves no buffer for rate rises, unexpected repairs, life changes, or fluctuating income. Many buyers target 10 to 15% below their calculated max to keep the loan comfortable through the cycle. The calculator shows what's possible; what's wise depends on your situation.