How much could you borrow for a home?
Borrowing power (banks call it borrowing capacity) is the biggest home loan a lender is likely to say yes to, based on your money. Think of it like this: a lender looks at what comes in each month, takes away what already goes out, and whatever is left over is what you could put toward loan repayments. The bigger that leftover, the bigger the loan.
This calculator does that same sum, free, in about a minute, with no account and no credit check. Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere except to work out your answer.
Your money coming in
Income is the engine of the whole sum. A lender starts with what you earn, takes out tax, then asks: after everything else, how much is left each month to pay a home loan?
Your pay before tax, unless you flip the switch below. If you earn a salary, the yearly figure on your contract is perfect.
Your deposit does not change how much you can repay each month, but it changes how big a purchase your loan can stretch to. Leave it blank if you are just exploring.
Your money going out
Every dollar already promised to something else is a dollar a lender will not count toward a new loan. Credit cards matter even if you never use them: a lender assumes you could max the card tomorrow, so the limit counts, not the balance.
Car loans, personal loans, HECS, buy now pay later. Add up what leaves your account for them each month. Blank means none.
The limit across all your cards added together, not what you owe on them. Blank means no cards.
Rent does not belong here (it usually stops when you buy), but food, transport, bills, streaming and everything else does. A rough figure is fine.
Kids or anyone else you support financially. Each one adds to the living costs a lender assumes for your household.
A borrowing figure is only half the answer
A borrowing figure answers what a lender might lend you. It cannot answer what one particular home would cost you on the day, or whether that home suits what you actually need. Put in the address and the price you are considering, and Byrz works both out from your own number, in about a minute, with no account.
Byrz does not put a price on any home. Every figure you see is worked out from a price you choose yourself.
Why the number is smaller than you might hope
Lenders are careful on purpose. Before they count your income they take out tax. Then they add a safety buffer of about 3% on top of the interest rate, so they know you could still make repayments if rates went up. Then they assume your household spends at least a certain amount to live, even if you are frugal. Every one of those steps shrinks the answer, and that is a feature: it protects you from a loan you could not comfortably repay.
Different lenders do these steps slightly differently, which is why the same person can be offered quite different amounts by different banks. Brokers earn their keep by knowing those differences and finding the lender whose rules suit your situation best.