How Much Home Loan Can You Get on Your Salary? (2026)

If you are planning to buy a home in 2026, the first question every bank silently answers before you do is - how much loan can this person actually repay? Your salary is the starting point, but the amount you finally qualify for depends on how much of that income is already committed, the interest rate, the tenure you choose and your credit history. In this guide we break down exactly how lenders size a home loan against your salary, share the simple rules of thumb they use, and walk through a full worked example so you can estimate your own eligibility before you ever step into a branch.

The core idea - lenders lend against your affordable EMI, not your salary#

Banks do not look at your salary and multiply it by a fixed number. They first work out how large an EMI you can comfortably pay every month, and then reverse-engineer the loan amount from that EMI. The tool they use is FOIR - the Fixed Obligation to Income Ratio. FOIR caps the share of your net monthly income that can go towards all your EMIs put together. Most lenders keep this ceiling around 40-50% of net (take-home) income. So if two people earn the same salary but one already has a car loan and a personal loan, the person with existing EMIs will qualify for a smaller home loan, because those obligations eat into the same FOIR budget.

The quick rule of thumb - roughly 60x your monthly net salary#

As a fast mental estimate, many salaried borrowers in India qualify for a home loan of about 60 times their monthly net salary, assuming no existing EMIs. So someone taking home ₹1,00,000 a month might be eligible for roughly ₹60 lakh, while a ₹50,000 net salary points to around ₹30 lakh. Treat this only as a ballpark - the real number shifts with the interest rate, the tenure and your other loans. A lower rate or a longer tenure pushes the multiple higher, a shorter tenure or existing EMIs pull it down.

• Net salary ₹50,000/month -> approx ₹28-30 lakh eligible loan
• Net salary ₹75,000/month -> approx ₹43-45 lakh eligible loan
• Net salary ₹1,00,000/month -> approx ₹57-60 lakh eligible loan
• Net salary ₹1,50,000/month -> approx ₹85-90 lakh eligible loan

A worked example - step by step#

Let us make it concrete. Assume a net take-home salary of ₹1,00,000 per month, no existing EMIs, and a lender that applies a 50% FOIR. Step one - the affordable EMI is 50% of ₹1,00,000, which is ₹50,000 per month. Step two - convert that EMI into a loan amount using the prevailing rate and tenure. At an interest rate of 8.5% per annum over a 20-year (240-month) tenure, an EMI of ₹50,000 supports a loan of roughly ₹57-58 lakh. If the same borrower already paid a ₹10,000 car EMI, their available EMI budget would drop to ₹40,000, and the eligible loan would fall to roughly ₹46 lakh. These figures are illustrative - your bank's exact rate, FOIR and rounding will move them a little.

How rate and tenure swing your eligibility#

Two levers move your eligible loan the most - the interest rate and the tenure. In 2026, typical home loan rates sit around 8.25% to 9.5% per annum, and lenders allow tenures of up to 30 years. A longer tenure lowers the EMI for a given loan, which means the same ₹50,000 affordable EMI can support a bigger loan - so stretching from 20 to 30 years raises your eligibility. The catch is total interest - a longer tenure means you pay far more interest over the life of the loan, even though eligibility looks better. A lower interest rate helps you on both fronts, raising eligibility and cutting total cost.

• Longer tenure -> lower EMI -> higher eligibility, but more total interest paid
• Shorter tenure -> higher EMI -> lower eligibility, but you save on interest
• Lower interest rate -> higher eligibility and lower total cost
• Every existing EMI directly reduces the loan you qualify for

Down payment, LTV and the costs beyond the loan#

The loan is never the full price of the house. Lenders finance only a part of the property value - the Loan to Value ratio (LTV) is usually capped at around 75-90%, so you must fund the rest as a down payment from your own savings. On top of that, registration charges and stamp duty (often 5-8% of property value, varying by state) are almost always out of pocket. So if you are eligible for a ₹57 lakh loan at 80% LTV, the property you can target is around ₹71 lakh, and you would arrange roughly ₹14 lakh as down payment plus another few lakh for stamp duty and registration. Budget for these upfront costs before you fix on a property price.

How to increase the home loan you qualify for#

If the number falls short of the home you want, there are several legitimate ways to raise it. Adding a co-applicant with a steady income - a spouse or parent - pools two incomes and can lift eligibility significantly. Clearing or consolidating existing loans frees up your FOIR budget. Keeping a credit score of 750 or above signals lower risk and often unlocks better rates and higher limits. A longer tenure raises eligibility if you are younger, since lenders link the maximum tenure to your age at loan maturity. Stable, continuous employment also strengthens your case. Work on these before applying, and use an eligibility calculator to see the effect of each change before you commit.

• Add a co-applicant with regular income to pool salaries
• Pay down or close existing EMIs to free up your FOIR
• Maintain a credit score of 750+ for better rates and limits
• Choose a longer tenure if your age allows it
• Show stable, continuous employment history