Mortgage Calculators

Lenders start with your gross income, deduct tax, living expenses and existing debt repayments, then test what's left against the proposed loan at a buffered assessment rate, typically 3% above the actual rate. Living expenses are benchmarked against the Household Expenditure Measure (HEM) if your declared figures are lower. Each lender applies its own policy, which is why results vary so widely between banks.

Online calculators use simplified assumptions. A lender's real assessment considers your credit history, income type (bonuses, commissions, self-employment), the specific property, and its own credit policy. Treat calculator results as a starting point, not a promise. A broker can run your actual scenario through genuine lender servicing calculators before you apply anywhere.

Principal and interest repayments are calculated so the loan fully amortises over the term, typically 30 years. Interest is calculated daily on what you still owe, so in the early years most of each repayment goes towards interest, with more paying down the loan itself as the balance falls. Paying fortnightly instead of monthly, or keeping savings in an offset account, reduces the balance faster and can cut years off the loan.

NSW transfer duty is tiered by purchase price, and on a typical Sydney Eastern Suburbs purchase it often runs to tens of thousands of dollars. First home buyers are exempt on properties up to $800,000 and receive concessional rates up to $1 million. Our stamp duty calculator above covers all Australian states and buyer types.

Compare the interest saved from a lower rate against the switching costs, typically discharge and registration fees of a few hundred dollars, plus any break costs on a fixed loan. The break-even point is usually within months, not years. Our refinancing calculator above shows your estimated savings and break-even timeframe based on your current and new rate.