Borrowing power
$305,127 to $367,523 on one income, depending on the lender.
That is what ten big lenders’ own calculators said on 14 September 2026 for one person earning $70,000, with no other debts, no HECS and no kids, buying a home to live in with a 20% deposit. The nearest income we priced was $66,000, so that is the run these figures come from. The middle figure was $352,353. The same ten lenders are $62,396 apart on the same person. So the useful question is which lender says yes, and at what rate.
The most each lender’s calculator would lend one person on $66,000. Highest first.
| Lender | Would lend | Against the middle |
|---|---|---|
| Firstmac | $367,523 | +$15,170 |
| Suncorp Bank | $353,910 | +$1,557 |
| ANZ | $353,822 | +$1,469 |
| Bankwest | $353,427 | +$1,074 |
| CommBank | $352,994 | +$641 |
| St.George | $351,711 | −$642 |
| Westpac | $350,784 | −$1,569 |
| NAB | $345,911 | −$6,442 |
| Macquarie | $306,351 | −$46,002 |
| ING | $305,127 | −$47,226 |
Each figure is that lender’s own number, to the dollar. The green row is the highest. A lender that lends the most is not always the one with the best rate, so check the rate monitor before you choose.
Lenders work from your yearly income before tax. Here is the same salary the way it lands in your account, and what the middle loan takes out of it.
After-tax pay uses the 2026-27 resident rates and the 2% Medicare levy, with no HECS. The repayment is principal and interest over 30 years at 6.1%, the lowest comparison rate on the panel on 14 September 2026 (People First Bank). At the panel middle rate it is more. Lenders test you at about three points above the rate you would pay, which is why the loan they offer is smaller than the repayment suggests you could carry.
The same ten lenders for a couple earning $72,000 between them, split about 55/45, no debts, no kids. $72,000 is the nearest combined income we priced.
Two people on one total usually borrow less than one person on the same total. Each lender sets a living cost floor per adult, and two smaller incomes pay less tax than one large one. The full ladder for couples is on the borrowing power page.
A credit card limit
Lenders count the limit, not what you owe. On $70,000, a $10,000 limit you never use takes about $42,000 off what you can borrow.
A car loan
$500 a month in repayments on the same income means about $55,000 less loan. Paying it off before you apply is often the biggest single thing you can do.
Living costs
Every lender sets a floor for your household. Spending $500 a month above it means about $55,000 less. HECS and kids work the same way. They are costs that come before the loan.
These three come from our borrowing power calculator (6.2%, a 3-point test buffer, 30 years), so you can check the sums. The tables above are the lenders’ own figures.
Between $305,127 and $367,523, depending on the lender. The middle figure is $352,353. That is what ten big lenders' own calculators said on 14 September 2026 for one person earning $66,000 with no other debts, no HECS and no kids, buying a home to live in with a 20% deposit. $66,000 is the nearest income we priced to $70,000. The lenders are $62,396 apart on the same person, so which lender you ask matters more than the exact salary.
$5,833 a month before tax is $70,000 a year, so the same answer: $305,127 to $367,523 on one income. Lenders work from your gross annual income, then take tax, living costs and any debts off it. After tax, $70,000 is about $4,757 a month in your account on 2026-27 rates with no HECS.
With a 20% deposit, the middle lender's $352,353 buys a home priced about $440,441, and you need $88,088 saved plus stamp duty and costs. With a 5% deposit the same loan is capped at 95% of the price, so the home can be no more than about $370,898, and you pay lenders mortgage insurance once. Your income sets one limit and your deposit sets the other. The lower one counts.
0 of the 10 lenders would lend $400,000 or more to one person on $66,000 with no debts and no kids, on 14 September 2026. None reached it on one income, so it takes a second income, a smaller loan or a lender outside the ten. What that loan costs a month is on the repayments pages.
Between $285,483 and $330,780 for two people earning $72,000 between them, split about 55/45, with no debts and no kids. $72,000 is the nearest combined income we priced. The middle figure is $293,025. Two people on one total usually borrow less than one person on the same total, because each lender sets a living cost floor per adult and taxes two smaller incomes more lightly than one large one.
Each lender has its own calculator. It sets its own living cost floor for your household, its own test rate above the loan rate, and its own rules for card limits and HECS. On $66,000 the ten big lenders went from $305,127 to $367,523. A broker's job is to know which one suits you.
No. It is what each lender's calculator said for one example household. Approval depends on the rest of your file: your real spending, your debts, your deposit, the property and your credit history. A lender assesses it, and a licensed broker submits it.
Priced 14 September 2026, re-run with the panel. Each figure is the most a lender’s own calculator said it would lend to one example household: variable, principal and interest, 30 years, a home to live in at 80% LVR, living costs declared at $1,000 a month so each lender uses its own floor, no other debts, no HECS, no kids. The ten lenders are CommBank, Westpac, NAB, ANZ, Macquarie, Bankwest, St.George, ING, Suncorp Bank, Firstmac. They are a guide, not an assessment of you, and a different household gets a different answer. Arthr Pty Ltd provides marketing and lead-generation services only; credit assistance is provided by 1st Street Pty Ltd, Credit Representative 490057 under Australian Credit Licence 389328.
A broker at 1st Street runs the same lender calculators on your real income, debts and deposit, and tells you which ones say yes.