How much can I borrow?
Start from what you’d be comfortable paying and see the loan it carries.
- Start from your payment
- Share of your pay
- Stress test at 7%
- Send it to yourself
Start from your payment
Tell us what you’d be comfortable paying. We’ll show the loan it carries.
After tax and KiwiSaver, everyone on the loan together.
The most you'd put toward the mortgage after everyday living costs.
We calculate at this rate. Check today's rates with your bank or adviser and put in your own.
25 to 30 years is standard.
Where each year’s payments go
Year
You could borrow
$559,482
Paying $3,000 a month at 4.99% over 30 years.
- Total interest
- $520,518
- Total repaid
- $1,080,000
- Debt-free by
- Nov 2056
Your mortgage payment load
$3,000 is 33%of your take-home pay. That’s manageable.
Comfortable
to 30%
Manageable
30–40%
Stretched
40–50%
High pressure
50%+
If rates reach 7%
The same $559,482 would cost $3,722 a month, $722 more. That’s 41% of your take-home pay: stretched.
Comfortable
to 30%
Manageable
30–40%
Stretched
40–50%
High pressure
50%+
What the bands mean
- Comfortable
- a good buffer in your cashflow.
- Manageable
- usually workable, depends on your other costs.
- Stretched
- sensitive to rising rates or costs.
- High pressure
- little room for rate rises, income changes or surprises.
A guide, not a rule.The higher your income, the bigger the share that can go to a mortgage: food, power and basics don’t rise with pay. A bank may lend you more, but you don’t have to take it.
Indicative only. What you can actually borrow is confirmed by a lender after a full application.
Your five next steps
Before you make an offer.
- 1Set your own limit. Work out your budget and the repayment pressure you'd be comfortable with. Your number, not the lender's.
- 2Pin down your real deposit. Your actual KiwiSaver balance, and any family help confirmed in writing.
- 3Optimise your spending. Lenders assess what you actually spent in the last 90 days, not your budget.
- 4Check your card limits. Every $10,000 of limit costs about $57,000 of borrowing power, used or not. You don't have to cut them, but know what they cost.
- 5Talk it through with a specialist. A mortgage adviser or your bank. Structure, lender choice, and the options a calculator never sees.
Who you’d talk to
Lena Bykova
Financial Adviser with 20+ years’ experience across finance, business valuation, and investment analysis. About Lena
Thirty minutes. No cost, no obligation.
Want this in writing?
I can send you these numbers.
Your numbers, and 10 Ways to Pay Your Mortgage Off Faster with them. The things that actually move the number, in the order worth doing them.
How much deposit do you actually need?
Twenty percent is the best place to buy from, but not the only one.
20%+
The standard
No low-equity margin and every lender open to you. The cheapest money you'll be offered.
10–20%
Common, and more expensive
Mostly first home buyers. Expect a low-equity margin and fewer lenders.
5–10%
Possible, with conditions
Some banks lend here directly, others through the First Home Loan (Kāinga Ora). A higher LVR, so a higher margin.
Two lenders will give you two different numbers.
Lender, rate and loan structure all change the answer.
What this calculator assumes
Common lending practice, not any one bank’s rules. Nothing here is guaranteed, and every lender applies its own.
- The loan. What your chosen payment repays in full over the term, at the rate you enter, principal and interest.
- Stress test. The same loan repriced at 7%, the level lenders commonly test at.
- Payment bands. Your payment as a share of take-home pay: up to 30% comfortable, 30–40% manageable, 40–50% stretched, above 50% high pressure. A rule of thumb, not a lender's rule: the higher the income, the larger the share a household can usually carry.
- Not a lender's limit. A bank also looks at your living costs, other debts and deposit. It may lend more or less than this.
This is a guide, not advice. The figures are indicative, based on general assumptions, and not an offer of finance. What you can actually borrow is confirmed by a lender after a full application.