What Income Do I Need for a $600k Mortgage in Australia?
For a lot of Australians, the question is not “how much can I borrow in theory?” It is “what income do I need for a $600,000 mortgage without my life turning into one giant repayment?”
The honest answer depends on your deposit, debts, dependants, living costs, and interest rates. But there is still a practical range that helps you sanity-check it.
What salary might you need?
As a rough guide, a single borrower often needs a strong six-figure income to support a $600k mortgage comfortably, while couples can reach the same loan with a lower combined burden if both incomes are stable. The exact approval range varies a lot by lender and existing commitments.
What changes the answer?
- your deposit size
- credit card limits and personal loans
- HECS/HELP debt
- dependants and childcare
- interest-rate buffers used by lenders
- whether you are a single or dual-income household
A broker can estimate what lenders may actually offer based on your income, debts, deposit, and household setup.
What repayments look like
On a 30-year loan, a $600k mortgage can still mean several thousand dollars a month in repayments depending on the rate. That is why your monthly cash flow matters more than just chasing a headline borrowing number.
If rates rise, the strain rises with them. A loan that looks fine at one rate can feel ugly at another.
What to do next
Use our Mortgage Calculator, Borrowing Capacity Calculator, and Can I Afford to Buy Calculator to pressure-test the numbers properly.
Then compare that against what a lender or broker says, because the gap between “technical approval” and “financially comfortable” is where people get blindsided.
Bottom line
The income you need for a $600k mortgage in Australia depends on more than just salary, but it is usually a serious loan that needs strong serviceability.
The smart move is to model the repayments honestly, not just aim for the biggest number a lender might wave through.