Home Loan Deposit Calculator

A 20% deposit avoids lenders mortgage insurance, but plenty of lenders will lend at 90% or 95% of the property value with LMI added, and some professions and guarantee schemes allow smaller deposits without a premium. The practical minimum is usually set by your borrowing capacity and the cash you need for stamp duty and buying costs, not by the deposit percentage on its own.

Lenders mortgage insurance is calculated as a percentage of the loan amount, and the percentage is set by the insurer and the lender against your LVR band, the loan size, the loan purpose and your circumstances. Premiums step up sharply as LVR rises — the jump between 90% and 95% is usually much larger than the jump between 85% and 90%. The premium is normally a one-off charge, and most borrowers capitalise it into the loan rather than paying it in cash. The figure in this calculator is an indicative estimate, never a quote.

It means the premium is added to your loan rather than paid from your savings. On a $750,000 purchase with a 5% deposit, the base loan is $712,500 and a capitalised premium lifts the total loan above the purchase price. You then pay interest on the premium across the life of the loan, so it costs more than the headline figure suggests. Lenders cap how far above 95% LVR the capitalised loan can go.

Loan to value ratio — your loan divided by the property value, as a percentage. A $600,000 loan on a $750,000 property is 80% LVR. Lenders price and assess based on LVR, and it's the number that decides whether LMI applies.

Generally no. Duty, government registration fees, conveyancing, inspections, lender fees and settlement adjustments have to be funded from your own cash at or before settlement. That's why a deposit percentage on its own understates what you need — the calculator above adds every cost so the total is realistic.

No, and this is where buyers most often get caught. Transfer (stamp) duty, government registration fees, conveyancing, building and pest inspections, lender fees and settlement adjustments for council and water rates all need to be paid at or before settlement. The funding position above adds all of them.

Some lenders require evidence of genuine savings, particularly for higher-LVR lending. What qualifies — accumulated savings, rent paid, term deposits, shares — and the period required varies between lenders and loan structures, and some lenders don't apply the requirement at all. Gifted funds and equity are often treated differently again.

It applies the general residential scale published by your state or territory revenue office, and the first home exemption or concession we can model where you say you're a first home buyer. It can't test contract dates, ownership history, occupancy rules, residency or income tests, and it doesn't model foreign buyer surcharges or pensioner and off-the-plan concessions. Treat it as indicative and confirm with the revenue office.

Often, yes. Many lenders price in LVR tiers, so crossing below 80% — and sometimes 70% or 60% — can unlock a lower rate as well as removing LMI. Whether waiting to save more is better than buying now depends on your circumstances, and comparing the actual cost of each funding position is more useful than treating 20% as a rule.

That depends on the deposit percentage you use and the duty and buying costs in your state, because both scale with the price. The calculator above works it backwards for 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% deposits so you can see the approximate ceiling your cash supports. It is a cash ceiling only — whether a lender would approve the loan is a separate question answered by the borrowing power estimator.

As a cash deposit alone, a 10% deposit is roughly $60,000, $70,000 or $80,000 — but the cash you actually need at settlement is larger, because stamp duty and buying costs sit on top and generally can't be added to the loan. In most states that adds tens of thousands more on an established purchase, and less if a first home concession or exemption applies. Set the price in the calculator above and it shows the full cash figure for your state rather than the deposit in isolation.

Yes, most lenders accept a gifted deposit, and many will want a short statutory declaration or letter from the person giving it confirming the money is a gift and not repayable. Some lenders also want to see the funds held in your account for a period, and a few still expect a portion of genuine savings alongside the gift. Policy varies more on this than almost any other deposit question, so lender choice matters.

Sometimes. A security guarantee — where a family member offers equity in their property — can allow a purchase with little or no cash deposit and without LMI, because the guarantee covers the shortfall in security. You still need to cover stamp duty and buying costs unless those are also supported, the guarantor needs sufficient equity, and they take on a real legal obligation. It's a structure to plan carefully, not a shortcut.

Genuine savings means funds you accumulated yourself rather than received, and lenders typically look for around 5% of the purchase price held or saved over about three months. Gifts, tax refunds, bonuses and sale proceeds often don't count as genuine savings on their own, though rental payment history can substitute with some lenders. It usually only becomes an issue above 90% LVR.

Yes. Money released under the First Home Super Saver Scheme can form part of your deposit, and lenders generally treat the released amount as savings. Release takes time to process through the ATO and your fund, so request it well before you need the funds at settlement, and check the current release caps and eligibility rules with the ATO because they change.

That's the intent of the federal guarantee schemes: an eligible first home buyer can purchase with a smaller deposit while the government guarantees part of the loan, so no lenders mortgage insurance premium is charged. Places, property price caps, income tests and participating lenders all apply and are reviewed periodically, so eligibility needs checking against the current rules rather than assumed.

Equity in a property you already own can be used instead of cash, either by refinancing to release funds or by adding a second loan split secured against that property. It's the usual route for upgraders and investors. The trade-off is that you're borrowing more overall and putting existing property up as security, so how the loans are split and structured matters much more than the headline rate.

The arithmetic works the same way, but the costs are usually higher: first home concessions don't apply, stamp duty is charged on the general scale, and some lenders price and assess investment lending more conservatively. Many investors target 20% to avoid LMI, though lending above 80% with a premium is available. Set the calculator above to an established purchase with first home buyer set to no to see the cash position.

Usually, yes. A holding or initial deposit is generally paid when the contract is signed — often around 0.25% to 10% of the price depending on the state and the agreement — and it forms part of your deposit rather than being extra. That means part of your savings needs to be accessible weeks before settlement, which catches out buyers whose funds are locked in a term deposit or still in super.

It depends on what happens to prices while you save and what the insurance premium costs you. Waiting saves the LMI premium and can improve your lender pricing tier; buying earlier avoids chasing a rising price with a deposit that has to grow with it. Compare the two funding positions in the cards above, then check whether your income supports the larger loan — deposit is only one of the two ceilings.