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Bridging loan calculator: peak debt, end debt and what it costs

Enter what your home should sell for and the price of the next one. See your peak debt, whether it fits a lender's 80% limit, the interest added while you sell, the loan you're left with, and how bridging compares with selling first.

Updated October 2026·Free, no sign-up

The home you’re selling

Start from your suburb (optional)

Expected sale price

Mortgage still owing

Selling costs

Our estimate: commission at the typical New South Wales rate plus GST, marketing, legal documents, conveyancing and the mortgage discharge.

The home you’re buying

Purchase price

State or territory

Stamp duty: $63,787 at the owner-occupier rate.

Conveyancing and registration

Our estimate for the state, including the new mortgage.

Savings you'll put in

Cash towards the purchase. Leave at 0 if you'll borrow it all.

The loan

Bridging interest rate (% a year)

An example. Banks that add the interest to the loan published 9.28% to 10.29% on 6 October 2026.

How the lender charges bridging interest

Months until your home sells and settles

Loan fees and valuations

Westpac and St.George publish $600 to set up, $100 for documents, $8 a month and $350 to discharge. Add valuations if your lender charges for them.

Rate on the loan after the sale (% a year)

An example rate. Use your lender's quote.

Your bridging loan

Net sale proceeds (sale price less selling costs): $1,069,650
Borrowed at the start (mortgage, purchase, duty, costs and fees, less savings): $1,967,356
Bridging loan (the part the sale repays): $1,069,650
Interest added over 6 months at 9.3%: $50,712
Peak debt: $2,018,068
Peak debt against both homes’ value ($2,600,000): 77.6% Within 80%
End debt after the sale: $948,418
Monthly repayment on the end debt (30 years at 6.5%): $5,995
What bridging costs you (interest plus fees): $51,812

An estimate, not a quote. Interest is charged on the part of the loan the sale repays, the method Westpac publishes, and repayments on the end debt are assumed from the start. Lenders differ: CBA asks for interest-only payments on the total debt, and Bendigo Bank adds interest on the whole loan for the new home.

Bridging or selling first?

Selling first avoids the bridging interest, but you rent between homes and move twice. Enter what that would cost you for the same 6 months.

Weekly rent between homes

Second move and storage

Bridging: interest plus fees: $51,812
Selling first: 6 months' rent plus the extra move: $21,200

On these figures, selling first costs $30,612 less. Sell first or buy first?

The number that moves everything

Firm up your sale price before you talk to a lender

Every figure above depends on what your current home sells for. A local agent will give you a free appraisal from recent comparable sales, and the lender will want a valuation for the bridging application anyway.

What to do next

Pair this with…

Bridging loans

Peak debt, end debt, and when bridging is the right call.

Selling costs

Commission, marketing and legal costs on your sale.

Sell first or buy first?

The decision before you commit to a bridging loan.

What bridging costs, by amount and months

Interest added to the bridged amount at 9.3% a year, compounded monthly. The bridged amount is the part of the loan your sale repays, roughly the sale price less selling costs. Lender fees come on top.

Amount bridged	3 months	6 months	12 months
$100,000	$2,343	$4,741	$9,707
$350,000	$8,201	$16,594	$33,974
$500,000	$11,715	$23,705	$48,534
$1,000,000	$23,431	$47,410	$97,068

9.3% is an example rate, not a quote: Westpac, the St.George group and Bendigo Bank published 9.28% to 10.29% for bridging loans that add the interest to the loan, read on 6 October 2026. Each half a percentage point changes the six-month cost on $100,000 by about $260.

How each figure is worked out

Stamp dutyon the new home at your state’s owner-occupier rate, from the same tables as our stamp duty calculator. First home and off-the-plan concessions are left out because a bridging buyer already owns a home.
Selling costsstart from the typical commission for your state plus GST, $4,000 of marketing, conveyancing, the state’s legal documents and the mortgage discharge fee, as in our selling costs calculator. Replace them with your agent’s quote.
Buying costs are the midpoint of our conveyancing estimate for the state, with the transfer and mortgage registration fees.
Peak debt is the mortgage owing plus the purchase price, duty, buying costs and loan fees, less savings, plus the interest added while you sell.
End debt is peak debt less the net sale proceeds. The monthly repayment assumes a 30-year principal and interest loan at 6.5%, which you can change.

The example the calculator opens with

A home expected to sell for $1,100,000 with $400,000 owing, and a $1,500,000 purchase in New South Wales, sold within six months:

Stamp duty on the purchase	$63,787
Net sale proceeds	$1,069,650
Interest added over six months	$50,712
Peak debt	$2,018,068 (77.6% of $2,600,000)
End debt	$948,418
Monthly repayment on the end debt	$5,995

The figure that moves everything

Change the sale price by 5% and the end debt moves by about $55,000. Lenders value your current home for the application, so an appraisal from an agent who sells in your street is worth having before you apply. Get a free appraisal with the form above.

What this calculator doesn’t do

It doesn’t test whether your income covers the end debt. Use the borrowing power calculator for that.
It charges interest on the part of the loan the sale repays, the method Westpac publishes. Bendigo Bank charges it on the whole loan for the new home, and CBA asks you to show you can pay interest only on the total debt.
It doesn’t include extension fees or a higher rate if the sale takes longer than the bridging term.
It doesn’t model buying off the plan or building, where bridging can run longer.

Which banks offer bridging, their terms and their published rates are in the bank-by-bank table. For how bridging works, the risks and the alternatives, read the bridging loans guide.

Take the full guide with you.

The complete guide to selling property in Australia: what it really costs, how agents price your home, the 10 questions that catch bad agents out, and a 12-week plan to settlement. Free PDF, personalised to your suburb, in your inbox in 60 seconds.

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Common questions

How do you calculate a bridging loan?

Add up what you will owe at the peak: the mortgage on your current home, the new home's price, its stamp duty and buying costs, and the loan fees, less any savings you put in. The bridging loan is the part your sale will repay, which is the sale price less selling costs. Interest on that part is added to the loan each month until the sale settles. Peak debt is everything you owe once that interest is added, and the end debt is peak debt less the sale proceeds. Lenders test your income against the end debt.

How much does a $100,000 bridging loan cost?

At 9.3% a year with the interest added monthly, about $4,741 for six months, $2,343 for three and $9,707 for twelve. Banks that add bridging interest to the loan published rates of 9.28% to 10.29% on 6 October 2026, so 9.3% sits near the bottom of that range. Add the lender's fees. Scale it up for your own figure: $500,000 for six months is about $23,705.

What is peak debt and end debt?

Peak debt is the most you owe during the bridging period: the existing mortgage plus the new purchase and its costs, plus the interest added while you sell. End debt is what is left once your current home sells and the proceeds pay the loan down. It becomes your ordinary home loan.

What LVR do lenders allow on a bridging loan?

Westpac, NAB and Bendigo Bank cap total lending at 80% of both homes' combined value; ANZ lends up to 80% of the new home's value. In the example on this page the peak debt is $2,018,068 against $2,600,000 of property, 77.6%. Above the cap, the usual fixes are more savings, a cheaper purchase, or selling first.

Is a bridging loan cheaper than selling first and renting?

Sometimes. On this page's example, six months of bridging costs $51,812 in interest and fees, against $21,200 for six months' rent at $700 a week plus a second move. Bridging gets relatively cheaper when rents are high or the sale is quick, and dearer when the bridged amount is large or the sale drags on. Enter your own figures in the calculator.