Before you move into that new home, you’ll need to pay a deposit for it. And that deposit can be very expensive, often $100,000 plus.
Our home loan deposit calculator can help you work out how much you’ll need, and what you can afford.
What is a house deposit?
A house deposit is the initial down payment made to the seller of the house before you take out a home loan. This is the first portion of the property that you pay for, and you gradually pay for the rest as you pay off your home loan.
Deposits are important lenders because they provide a buffer against potential losses should the borrower default on the loan. Lenders can also look at the size of the deposit to assess your reliability as a borrower. Someone who can afford to save a large amount for a deposit is also more likely to be able to afford to keep meeting their repayments.
How much do you need for a house deposit?
That’s where the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) comes into it.
In a lot of cases, you can take out a home loan with a deposit as small as 5% of the property's value. A 5% deposit means you still have to borrow 95% of the home’s value from the lender, meaning you have an LVR of 95%.
In order to avoid the expensive Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), you’ll typically require a deposit of at least 20%, or an 80% LVR. This can be quite a lot of money. On a $500,000 home, a 20% deposit is $100,000 in savings.
You’ll also need to factor in the other upfront costs associated with purchasing property, like conveyancing fees, stamp duty costs, bank fees and more. Together these can easily cost $10,000+ at a conservative estimate, which is why it can be useful to use a house deposit calculator to find out how much you’ll need in savings.
Home loan deposit calculator
A home loan deposit calculator, such as the one on our website, can work out how much of your existing savings can be put towards a home of a certain value after all the upfront costs have been considered.
Savings.com.au’s house deposit calculator lets you input the following bits of info to find out the kind of deposit you’d need to have:
- The estimated value of the property you want to buy
- Your current savings
- Which state the property is located in
- Whether you’re buying the property to live in or as an investor
- Whether you’re a first home buyer and buying through a scheme
- Whether the home is established or new
Let’s say for example you’re looking to buy a $650,000 established property in NSW, and have built up $80,000 in savings. After factoring in upfront costs, you’d have around $35,000 left for a deposit, which would give you an LVR of 95%.
If you wanted to have a lower LVR, then this house deposit calculator could help you figure out just how much more savings you need.
Looking for a home loan?
Buying a home or looking to refinance? The table below features home loans
with some of the lowest interest rates on the market for owner occupiers.
Lender | |||||||||||||
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Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
FEATUREDGREAT INTEREST RATE | Smart Booster Investor Bundle (Principal and Interest)
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Smart Booster Investor Bundle (Principal and Interest)
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Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
FEATUREDNO UPFRONT OR ONGOING FEES | Low Rate Home Loan - Prime (Principal and Interest) (Investment) (LVR < 80%)
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Low Rate Home Loan - Prime (Principal and Interest) (Investment) (LVR < 80%)
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Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
BUNDLE YOUR HOME LOAN AND YOUR INVESTMENT LOAN FOR MORE SAVINGS | Yard Investor Bundle Loan (Bundled with Home Loan)
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Yard Investor Bundle Loan (Bundled with Home Loan)
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Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
REFINANCE ONLY | Variable Rate Investment Loan – Refinance Only
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Variable Rate Investment Loan – Refinance Only
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Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
FREE REDRAW FACILITY | Basic Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR < 60%)
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Basic Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR < 60%)
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Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
100% FULL OFFSET ACCOUNT | Ocean Investment (Amounts < $1m, LVR < 60%)
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Ocean Investment (Amounts < $1m, LVR < 60%)
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Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
FAST TURNAROUND TIMES AND FLEXIBLE LOAN OPTIONS | |||||||||||||
Basic Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR 60%-70%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Budget Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR ≤ 80%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Ocean Investment (Amounts < $1m, LVR < 70%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
FEATUREDGET A FULL OFFSET ACCOUNT FOR NO EXTRA COST | Low Rate Home Loan - Prime (Principal and Interest) (Investment) (LVR < 60%)
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Low Rate Home Loan - Prime (Principal and Interest) (Investment) (LVR < 60%)
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Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
UNLIMITED EXTRA REPAYMENTS | |||||||||||||
Budget Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR 80%-90%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Yard Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR > 80%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Basic Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR 70%-80%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Ocean SMSF (No Offset) (Metro) (Principal and Interest) (LVR < 60%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Base Variable Investment Loan Special Offer (Principal and Interest) (LVR > 80%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Extra Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR 80%-90%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Standard Variable Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR < 80%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Base Variable Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
Ocean SMSF (With Offset) (Metro) (Principal and Interest) (LVR 60%-65%) | |||||||||||||
Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
FEATUREDSELF MANAGED SUPER FUND LOAN | SMSF 80
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SMSF 80
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- Option to add an offset for 0.10%
- No monthly or ongoing fees
- Unlimited redraws
Base criteria of: a $400,000 loan amount, variable, fixed, principal and interest (P&I) home loans with an LVR (loan-to-value) ratio of at least 80%. However, the ‘Compare Home Loans’ table allows for calculations to be made on variables as selected and input by the user. All products will list the LVR with the product and rate which are clearly published on the Product Provider’s web site. Monthly repayments, once the base criteria are altered by the user, will be based on the selected products’ advertised rates and determined by the loan amount, repayment type, loan term and LVR as input by the user/you. *The Comparison rate is based on a $150,000 loan over 25 years. Warning: this comparison rate is true only for this example and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Rates correct as of June 25, 2022. View disclaimer.