How much can I borrow?
Two separate caps decide this, and the smaller one wins. Three questions tell you which is holding you back, what you need as a downpayment, and how much of it must be cash.
- The 75%, 45% and 35% loan limits
- The 4% stress test on your income
- Downpayment, and the part that must be cash
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Free check: your maximum bank loan
3 questions, about 1 minute. No sign-up.
Floating home loans move with SORA, which MAS publishes every business day.
See the chartYour limit in full
The rules doing the work
With no other housing loan running you can borrow up to 75% of the price or valuation, whichever is lower. With one already running it drops to 45%, and with two or more to 35%. A loan you only guaranteed still counts as yours.
Take longer than thirty years (twenty-five for an HDB flat), or let the loan finish after you turn sixty-five, and the limit falls from 75% to 55%. On a first housing loan the cash you need also doubles, from 5% to 10% of the price. Shortening the tenure by a year or two sometimes lends you far more, not less.
The bank sizes your loan as if the rate were 4%, even while charging you under 3%. That is the MAS medium-term floor rate. If your rate after any promotion is higher, the bank tests at that instead, and commercial property is tested at 5%. It is why your approval looks smaller than your own sums suggested.
Total debt servicing takes every monthly commitment into account — car loan, personal loan, card minimums — and caps the lot at 55% of gross income. Clearing a small loan before you apply can be worth more than a rate discount.
An HDB flat or a new EC faces a second cap. The mortgage servicing ratio limits the housing payment alone to 30% of gross income, and it bites long before the 55% rule does. It applies to HDB flats, and to executive condos bought from the developer until the minimum occupation period ends. Private property is not subject to it.
Reading the result
The table shows both caps and which one is actually binding. If value is the constraint, a bigger income will not help — you need a smaller price or a larger downpayment. If income is the constraint, clearing other debt or lengthening the tenure may. Only an in-principle approval from a bank is binding; this is the sum they will start from.
Never miss your lock-in
A fixed rate lasts two or three years, not the whole loan. When the lock-in ends, the loan moves to the rate in your letter of offer, which is usually higher, and most people only notice when the instalment changes. Refinancing takes 6 to 8 weeks, so the real deadline is about 4 months before.
- One question. The month your lock-in ends. No sign-up, no NRIC, no loan details.
- WhatsApp reminders, free. A message 4, 3, 2 and 1 month before, each with what to do at that point and today's SORA.
- Or your own calendar. One tap adds the same dates to iPhone, Google or Outlook.
- Your number stays with us. A reminder sign-up is used only for your reminders. We share your details with a bank only if you ask us to help you apply. Reply STOP at any time.
Reminders come from the Kydos assistant on WhatsApp (+65 8311 7524), run by the team behind AnnualFiling.sg. We never sell your number. We pass your details to a bank contact or referral partner only when you ask us to help you apply, and only after you agree in the chat. See the privacy notice.
Free lock-in reminder
No sign-up, no payment. About 10 seconds.
Common questions
Why is the answer lower than I expected?
Almost always the 4% stress test. The bank sizes the loan at a rate well above what it charges, so the affordability figure is deliberately conservative.
Does a car loan really matter?
Yes. Every monthly commitment eats into the 55% limit, and a $1,000 car payment can cost you well over $200,000 of borrowing capacity.
What counts as an existing housing loan?
Any residential property loan in your name anywhere, including one where you are only a guarantor. It is the count that drops your limit to 45% or 35%.
Can I use CPF for the whole downpayment?
No. At least 5% of the price must be cash on a first housing loan (10% if a long tenure cuts the limit to 55%), and 25% if you already have one running. The rest can come from your Ordinary Account. Commercial property can't use CPF at all.
Is an in-principle approval binding?
No, but it is close. It tells you what the bank will lend subject to valuation and final checks, and it is worth getting before you commit to a purchase.