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How much did the rate rises this year cut off how much I can borrow?

Bayley Clarke · Mortgage broker on the road · Last checked 16 October 2026 · 3 min read

The 60 second version, filmed from the driver's seat. The rest of this page is the detail underneath it.

Why a few rate rises take so much off

The bank doesn't test you at the rate you'll actually pay. It adds a buffer, generally around 3%, and checks you could still afford the repayments at that higher rate. Every time the actual rate goes up, the tested rate goes up with it.

So the same income is now being stretched over a more expensive pretend repayment, and the loan it can support gets smaller. That's how a handful of rate rises turns into a five or six figure drop in what you can borrow, even when your own repayments only moved a bit.

What the numbers look like

For a single applicant, I've been seeing roughly $50k come off. For a couple, call it $100k. The higher your income and the bigger the loan you were aiming for, the more it generally moves, because the buffer is working on a bigger number.

So for you that means if you were pre-qualified at, say, $600k at the start of the year, it's worth assuming you're somewhere lower now until we rerun it. Not because anything about you changed. Because the bank's test did. Your own number depends on your income, your debts and your spending, and only a fresh run will tell you.

Swings and roundabouts

It's not all one way. Property prices have been easing in a lot of places too, so some of what you've lost in borrowing is offset by what you'd now be paying. It doesn't generally even out like for like, but it softens it.

And rates go up and rates come down. If you're buying a home to live in for the long run, the right move is usually to keep the long-term plan and vision, know your numbers today, and buy what you can comfortably afford now rather than waiting for the perfect month.