Home equity calculator

How we calculate Home Loan Finder Scores

Read full methodology

What different scores mean

9+

Excellent

These home loans offer low costs, coupled with a host of features, giving the best overall value.

7+

Great

These home loans may have slightly higher interest rates or fewer features but overall, a competitive offering.

5+

Standard

Usually the home loans would offer above average rates. They may still include some competitive features.

0+

Basic

Higher costs and/or fewer features.

To use Finder's simple equity calculator just enter an estimate of your property's current market value and how much is left on your home loan.

How to calculate your equity

Calculating the equity in your home is easy. You just need to work out the difference between your property value and how much is left on your mortgage.

Now, you won't know the exact value of your home until you actually sell it. But you can estimate the value of your home by looking at a property listing site and checking recent sales in your suburb.

Make sure you look at similar properties to yours to get a clearer estimate. A real estate agent can often give you a free appraisal too.

How to find your loan balance

You can check your current loan balance on your most recent home loan statement or by logging onto your lender's app or online banking platform.

Example: Calculating your current home equity

• You bought a $900,000 home 4 years ago with a 20% deposit.
• Your loan amount was $720,000.
• Your home is now worth $950,000 and you've repaid $20,000 of your loan principal.
• This means your remaining loan balance is $700,000.
• Your current equity is $250,000, or $950,000 minus $700,000.
• Your usable equity (80%) is $200,000.

How to access your equity

Here are 3 simple ways via which you can access your home equity:

• Redraw. The simplest way to build your home equity is to make payments above your minimum monthly repayments. You can then access a portion of this equity by redrawing the extra funds. Redraw restrictions may apply depending on your lender.
• Refinancing. If you refinance your home loan to a new one you can apply for a credit increase with your bank. When the new loan is approved, the extra money is added to your loan balance.
• Home equity loan/line of credit loan. A line of credit is a loan which extends you a set credit limit based on your equity. These loans allow you to withdraw small amounts or the whole balance whenever you like. You only pay interest on the money you withdraw.

What can I use my home equity for?

• Finance home renovations. You can use your home equity to fund some renovations to improve your place. You may also use the equity to apply for an additional loan and use the funds to purchase a new car or other investments.
• Fund a purchase or holiday. You can use your equity for any purpose, such as buying a car or taking a holiday.
• Building wealth. Unlocking the equity in your home can help you improve your lifestyle by enabling you to invest in property. Equity in your home can be used as security to buy a second property, enabling you to accumulate wealth.

Using your equity means paying interest and growing your debt

When calculating how much home equity you can access there are a few factors you should take into consideration:

• Increase in monthly interest. Accessing your home equity to get an additional loan or credit increase will increase the amount you owe. This will most likely end up increasing the amount you pay in monthly interest.
• Increase in monthly payments. Using your equity can increase your outstanding mortgage amount without increasing your loan repayment term. This will mean that your minimum monthly repayments can rise, so proper budgeting is required so as to avoid financial difficulties.
• Increase in your loan to value ratio (LVR). If your property value hasn’t increased significantly when you get a redraw or credit increase, your LVR may increase, forcing you to take out lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) that will further increase your loan amount.

What if I don't have much equity?

If you've just started making repayments on your loan you probably don't have much equity. As you repay the loan over time you'll build this equity.

Borrowers with low deposit home loans have the least equity. When you start a home loan, the deposit is the total amount of the property you actually own. So if you had a 10% deposit then you'd only have 10% equity at the start.

You can build equity by making extra repayments or putting extra money in an offset account. Over time, if property prices grow, this will also increase your equity. This is because while your home loan should shrink over time, any increase in the value of the home is entirely your money.

Compare line of credit home loans

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Finder Score	Interest Rate p.a.	Comparison Rate p.a.	Fees	Custom Badges	Monthly Payment
Finder score 8.6 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 8.6 Great	Interest Rate 5.84%	Comparison Rate 6.03%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only40% min. equityOwner-occupier$1M+	Monthly Payment $885 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 8.5 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 8.5 Great	Interest Rate 5.84%	Comparison Rate 6.07%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityInvestment$1M+No LMI	Monthly Payment $885 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 8.5 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 8.5 Great	Interest Rate 5.84%	Comparison Rate 6.08%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only40% min. equityInvestment$500k+	Monthly Payment $885 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 8.5 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 8.5 Great	Interest Rate 5.89%	Comparison Rate 6.07%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityOwner-occupier$500k+No LMI	Monthly Payment $890 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 8.5 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 8.5 Great	Interest Rate 5.89%	Comparison Rate 6.07%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only10% min. equityOwner-occupier$1M+LMI	Monthly Payment $890 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 8.4 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 8.4 Great	Interest Rate 5.89%	Comparison Rate 6.13%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityInvestment$500k+No LMI	Monthly Payment $890 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 8.4 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 8.4 Great	Interest Rate 5.89%	Comparison Rate 6.10%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityInvestment$1M+No LMI	Monthly Payment $890 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 7.9 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 7.9 Great	Interest Rate 6.34%	Comparison Rate 6.60%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only40% min. equityInvestment$100K to	Monthly Payment $934 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 7.8 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 7.8 Great	Interest Rate 6.39%	Comparison Rate 6.65%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityInvestment$100K to No LMI	Monthly Payment $939 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 7.7 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 7.7 Great	Interest Rate 6.59%	Comparison Rate 6.77%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only40% min. equityOwner-occupier$100K to	Monthly Payment $958 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 7.6 Great AMP Bank Professional Package Line of Credit	Finder score 7.6 Great	Interest Rate 6.64%	Comparison Rate 6.82%	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $349 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityOwner-occupier$100K to No LMI	Monthly Payment $963 per month	Enquire nowMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 7.3 Great BCU Bank All-In-One Line of Credit	Finder score 7.3 Great	Interest Rate 6.99%	Comparison Rate	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $0 p.a.	Principal & Interest21% min. equityOwner-occupier	Monthly Payment $998 per month	ContinueMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 7 Great BCU Bank All-In-One Line of Credit	Finder score 7 Great	Interest Rate 7.15%	Comparison Rate	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $0 p.a.	Principal & Interest21% min. equityInvestment	Monthly Payment $1,014 per month	ContinueMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 6.5 Standard Auswide Bank Freedom Package Line of Credit	Finder score 6.5 Standard	Interest Rate 7.26%	Comparison Rate	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $395 p.a.	Interest only10% min. equityOwner-occupierLMI	Monthly Payment $1,026 per month	ContinueMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 5.7 Standard Auswide Bank Freedom Package Line of Credit	Finder score 5.7 Standard	Interest Rate 7.78%	Comparison Rate	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $395 p.a.	Interest only10% min. equityInvestmentLMI	Monthly Payment $1,079 per month	ContinueMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 5.6 Standard Hume Bank Line of Credit Loan	Finder score 5.6 Standard	Interest Rate 8.50%	Comparison Rate	Fees Application: $600 Ongoing: $0 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityOwner-occupierNo LMI	Monthly Payment $1,155 per month	ContinueMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 5.5 Standard Queensland Country Bank Ultimate Home Loan Package Line of Credit	Finder score 5.5 Standard	Interest Rate 7.94%	Comparison Rate	Fees Application: $0 Ongoing: $395 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityOwner-occupierInvestmentNo LMI	Monthly Payment $1,096 per month	ContinueMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 5.1 Standard Hume Bank Line of Credit Loan	Finder score 5.1 Standard	Interest Rate 8.75%	Comparison Rate	Fees Application: $600 Ongoing: $0 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityInvestmentNo LMI	Monthly Payment $1,181 per month	ContinueMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 4.6 Basic Queensland Country Bank Line of credit	Finder score 4.6 Basic	Interest Rate 8.44%	Comparison Rate	Fees Application: $250 Ongoing: $100 p.a.	Interest only20% min. equityOwner-occupierInvestmentNo LMI	Monthly Payment $1,148 per month	ContinueMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 4.5 Basic Gateway Bank Equitismart Line of Credit	Finder score 4.5 Basic	Interest Rate 8.75%	Comparison Rate	Fees Application: $200 Ongoing: $0 p.a.	Principal & Interest20% min. equityOwner-occupierNo LMI	Monthly Payment $1,181 per month	ContinueMore info Compare product selection Compare	loading

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How we picked these

What is Finder Score?

The Finder Score crunches 7,000 home loans across 120+ lenders. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees and features, as well as the type of loan eg investor, variable, fixed rate - this gives you a simple score out of 10.

To provide a Score, we compare like-for-like loans. So if you're comparing the best home loans for cashback, you can see how each home loan stacks up against other home loans with the same borrower type, rate type and repayment type. We also take into consideration the amount of cashback offered when calculating the Score so you can tell if it's really worth it.

Read the full breakdown

Written by

Richard Whitten

Senior Money Editor

Richard Whitten is Finder’s Senior Money Editor, with over eight years of experience in home loans, property, credit cards and personal finance. His insights appear in top media outlets like Yahoo Finance, Money Magazine, and the Herald Sun, and he frequently offers expert commentary on television and radio, helping Australians navigate mortgages and property ownership. Richard started his career in education and textbook publishing in South Korea. He holds multiple industry certifications, including a Certificate IV in Mortgage Broking (RG 206) and Tier 1 and Tier 2 certifications (RG 146), as well as a Bachelor of Education from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Certificate in Communications from Deakin University. See full bio

Richard's expertise

Richard has written 688 Finder guides across topics including:

• Home loans
• Credit cards
• Personal finance
• Money-saving tips