About this calculator
For a decade, Hong Kong borrowers had to pass two tests: repayments within 50% of income at the real rate, and within 60% at a stressed rate two points higher. The HKMA suspended the second test on 28 February 2024, as part of the same package that abolished the extra stamp duties, and it remains suspended in October 2026. What governs your loan today is the debt service ratio alone: your new mortgage payment plus every other debt payment must not exceed 50% of gross monthly income, assessed at the rate you will actually pay. That change quietly enlarged every borrower's ceiling — a loan sized at the old stressed test was priced at a rate two points above reality, so identical incomes support noticeably bigger loans now.
Two cautions keep the page honest. First, the 50% figure is the HKMA's supervisory cap for the standard case — banks apply it with their own definitions of income (bonuses are shaded, rental income is discounted, guarantors change the maths), and applicants with weaker files can be held tighter. Second, the stress test's suspension is a policy choice, not a law of nature: it was introduced after 2008 precisely because loans sized at trough rates become traps. The reference figure in the results shows what the old test would have allowed; borrowers who stay inside it voluntarily are buying themselves two points of rate protection for free.
How to use it
- Enter gross monthly household income (before tax and MPF) and your other monthly debt payments.
- Enter the actual mortgage rate you expect — with the stress test suspended, this rate, not a padded one, sets the payment the DSR is measured on.
- Set the tenure (30 years is the HKMA maximum) and the LTV you plan to use.
- Read the maximum loan and the property price it supports — then compare the suspended-stress-test reference to judge your own safety margin.
The formula
PV is the standard annuity present value at the monthly rate. The historical stressed loan uses the pre-2024 rule instead: a 60% DSR cap with the payment computed at the rate + 2 percentage points. Both figures are shown so the size of the February 2024 deregulation is visible on your own numbers, not just in the abstract.
Worked example
A household earning HK$80,000 a month with HK$5,000 of other debt payments has HK$35,000 a month for the mortgage. At 2.50% over 30 years that supports a loan of HK$8,858,048 — a HK$12,654,355 property at the 70% bank LTV, or a HK$9,842,276 property at 90% through the MIP (subject to its $10M price cap, so in practice the loan would be limited by price rules first). Under the suspended stress test — 60% DSR at 4.50% — the same household would have been capped at HK$8,486,530: the deregulation is worth about HK$371,518 of extra loan on these figures, roughly 4%. Stretch the tenure the other way and the DSR shows its teeth: at 20 years the maximum falls to HK$6,604,984.
Sources: HKMA prudential measures for residential mortgages: 70% bank LTV and 50% DSR cap unified 16 October 2024; stress-test suspension of 28 February 2024 confirmed still in force October 2026. Last updated: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is the stress test ever coming back?
The HKMA has described the February 2024 suspension as a standing adjustment, reviewed with the property cycle; as of October 2026 it has not been reinstated, and the HKMA's published countercyclical measures list it as suspended. It could return if the market overheats — one more reason the voluntary reference figure on this page is worth respecting. Loans approved today are not retested if it returns.
What income do banks count toward the DSR?
Salary in full; commissions, bonuses and overtime are averaged over 6–24 months and often shaded. Rental income is typically counted at around 70–80% of the rent after rates and management fees, and the rental property's own mortgage joins your debt payments. Self-employed applicants are assessed on tax assessments and audited accounts. The calculator assumes clean, fully countable income — shade the figure first if yours is mostly variable.
Does the DSR cap differ for investors or non-residents?
Historically yes — tighter caps (40–50%) applied to rental-derived income cases and asset-based applications. The October 2024 HKMA round unified the standard LTV at 70% and the DSR cap at 50% across residential cases, and asset-based (net-worth) applications remain exceptional rather than a standard track. If your income is offshore or asset-based, expect the bank to apply its own stricter internal standard regardless of the headline cap.
How does the LTV choice interact with affordability?
The DSR caps the loan by income; the LTV caps it by property value. Your real ceiling is whichever binds first, and the price result here shows the property a DSR-sized loan supports at your chosen LTV. Above 70% LTV the loan also needs HKMC insurance, whose own price-band caps (90% only up to HK$10 million) can bind before the DSR does — the mortgage insurance calculator prices that layer.
Why do some banks still quote me a "stressed" figure?
Prudence and habit. Many banks still run the +2% test internally as a reference or apply it to borderline files even though the HKMA no longer requires it, and mortgage brokers quote it because it was the binding number for a decade. An approval is governed by the live rules — 50% DSR at the actual rate — but a bank declining an application on internal stressed grounds is within its rights; another bank may simply say yes.
What formula does this hong kong affordability calculator — the 50% dsr cap calculator use?
Monthly budget = 50% × income − other debt payments; Maximum loan = PV of the budget at the actual rate over the tenure PV is the standard annuity present value at the monthly rate. The historical stressed loan uses the pre-2024 rule instead: a 60% DSR cap with the payment computed at the rate + 2 percentage points. Both figures are shown so the size of the February 2024 deregulation is visible on your own numbers, not just in the abstract. The worked example on this page applies the formula step by step with real numbers, so you can verify the result by hand.