About this calculator
An affordability calculator estimates the maximum home loan you'd qualify for in South Africa given your income, monthly expenses, and current interest rates. Enter your gross monthly income, your total monthly expenses (excluding rent), the interest rate on offer and the loan term you're targeting, and the calculator returns the maximum bond principal you could support.
The maths follows what South African banks actually do. Banks generally cap the total bond instalment at around 30% of gross monthly income and total debt repayments at 40%. Since the National Credit Amendment Act, they must also run a full affordability assessment against your actual expenses. This calculator reverse-engineers the standard amortisation formula from a maximum monthly instalment you can afford.
The result is an estimate, not a pre-approval. For an official figure, apply for pre-qualification through a bond originator like ooba or BetterBond — the service is free to buyers, and they submit to multiple banks simultaneously. Add your deposit to the maximum loan amount to see the total purchase price you can target, and use our Transfer Duty Calculator to budget upfront costs.
How to use it
- 1Enter gross monthly income. Your total monthly income before tax.
- 2Enter monthly expenses. Total monthly expenses excluding your future bond.
- 3Enter interest rate and term. Use the current prime rate and a 20-year term as defaults.
- 4Read your maximum bond. The largest loan the standard affordability rule supports.