Mortgage Affordability Calculator: What You Can Really Borrow in 2026
Your maximum loan, maximum price and monthly instalment, worked out the way a bank does it. TDSR 55%, MSR 30%, the 4% stress rate, and LTV by loan count. No sign-up. The full breakdown is right there.
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Your result, explained
Three numbers decide what you can borrow. First, your income after the 30% haircut on anything variable. Second, the payment ceiling: 55% of that income minus your other debts (TDSR), and 30% of it if you're buying an HDB flat or a new EC (MSR). The lower one wins. Third, the loan that payment supports at the regulator's stress rate, not the rate the bank advertises.
The stress rate is the part most people miss. Since September 2022, banks must test you at a 4% floor for residential loans, even when actual packages sit near 3%. HDB tests its own loans at 3%. So the monthly figure the bank quotes you and the loan size they'll approve are computed at two different rates. This tool shows both.
Worked example: couple buying a resale HDB with a bank loan
$9,000 fixed income plus $2,000 variable (counted at 70%, so $1,400). Counted income: $10,400. Debts: $650 a month for a car.
- TDSR headroom: 55% × $10,400 − $650 = $5,070
- MSR cap: 30% × $10,400 = $3,120 ← the binding limit
- Max loan at the 4% stress rate over 25 years: about $591,000
- Max price at 75% LTV: about $788,000
- Downpayment: $197,000 (at least $39,400 in cash)
- Actual instalment at 3.0% p.a.: about $2,803 a month
Notice the MSR, not the TDSR, set the ceiling. For HDB and EC buyers that is almost always the binding rule, and it's why paying down a car loan sometimes does less for your budget than buyers expect.
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Where calculators usually go wrong
Edge cases worth knowing
Variable income gets a 30% haircut
Commission, bonuses, rental income, freelance fees: banks count 70 cents of every variable dollar. A $3,000 monthly commission adds $2,100 to your assessed income, not $3,000. If most of your pay is variable, your real borrowing power is lower than your payslip suggests.
Age and tenure can cut your LTV
Full LTV assumes the loan ends by age 65 and within 30 years (25 for HDB flats). Run past either and the first-loan LTV falls from 75% to 55%, with 10% minimum cash. A 45-year-old taking a 30-year loan hits this. The fix is a shorter tenure or a younger co-borrower.
New ECs: two extra walls
EC buyers face MSR and TDSR, plus a $16,000 household income ceiling. There is no HDB loan for an EC, so the 75% LTV comes with 5% minimum cash. If your counted income crosses $16,000, a new EC is off the table and the tool will flag it. The ceiling rises to $18,000 for ECs on land parcels whose tenders close on or after 24 August 2026, but the first of those is not expected to launch before 2028 — so this tool tests $16,000, which governs every EC you can buy today. Here is which projects those are.
HDB loan or bank loan for your flat?
HDB loans ignore TDSR (MSR only), test at a 3% floor, need no minimum cash, and let you repay early without penalty. Bank loans sometimes approve larger amounts for buyers with variable income, and rates can be sharper. You can switch from HDB to bank later, never the other way. Full comparison: HDB loan vs bank loan.
Joint borrowers pool income and debts
Husband and wife, or parent and child, can combine incomes to clear the ratios. Their debts combine too. If one applicant has a car loan and the other doesn't, adding the clean applicant still usually helps.
Anything less standard: a guarantor setup, a loan under a trust, income from overseas. That's a conversation, not a calculator. Ask me on WhatsApp.
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Got your number? See what it buys.
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Read the honest takeRun your exact numbers with me
Banks assess cases differently, especially with variable income or an existing loan. Send me your figures and I'll tell you what I'd expect the banks to say.