Calculator
Mortgage Affordability Calculator
Enter your income, debts, and deposit to see the property price and monthly payment you can support under UAE lending limits.
Indicative only: assumes a 4.5% rate over 25 years, a 50% debt-service ceiling and an 80% expat loan-to-value cap.
AED 2M
Max property price
AED 17,000
Max monthly payment
AED 1.60M
Max loan
AED 80,000
Indicative upfront costs
Your down payment vs the indicative 20% minimum
Your deposit is the binding limit — the 20% minimum caps the price below what your income could service.
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Your inputs produce real arithmetic, but every ceiling here is indicative only, computed at an assumed 4.5% rate over a 25-year term. UAE loan-to-value and debt-service caps and individual bank criteria vary, so this is not a mortgage offer or financial advice.
An affordability calculator estimates the largest mortgage and property price you qualify for in Abu Dhabi. The binding rule is the debt burden ratio: your total monthly debt repayments cannot exceed 50 per cent of your gross monthly income, and from that ceiling — minus any existing loans — the maximum loan and price are worked backwards.
How much you can borrow is set by your income, not the price
Start from 50 per cent of your gross monthly income. Subtract every existing monthly commitment — car loan, personal loan, and roughly 5 per cent of your credit-card limits, which banks count whether or not you use them. What remains is the largest mortgage repayment a lender will approve. That repayment, at the offered rate and term, back-solves to a maximum loan amount.
The maximum property price is then the maximum loan divided by the loan-to-value limit for your case: for an expatriate buying a first completed home up to AED 5 million, that is 80 per cent, so the price is the loan divided by 0.8, with the remaining 20 per cent needed as a cash deposit. A higher salary or clearing an existing loan raises the ceiling; a new car loan lowers it immediately.
What the estimate does and does not include
The debt burden ratio is a hard regulatory cap, but a lender also assesses job stability, sector, employer, and your credit history through the Al Etihad Credit Bureau. Passing the DBR maths is necessary, not sufficient — a thin credit file or a probationary period can still reduce or delay an offer.
Remember the cash you need beyond the deposit. Registration of roughly 2 per cent, mortgage registration, valuation and agency commission near 2 per cent are all paid upfront and are not financed, so the cash required to complete is meaningfully more than the deposit alone. Model the repayment against a rate slightly above today's offer so a later reset stays inside your budget.
Frequently asked questions
How much mortgage can I afford in the UAE?
Up to the point where your total monthly debt repayments reach 50 per cent of your gross monthly income — the debt burden ratio cap. Subtract existing loan and card commitments from that 50 per cent to find the largest mortgage repayment a lender will approve, then convert it to a loan amount at the offered rate and term. A higher income or clearing existing debt raises the figure.
What is the debt burden ratio (DBR) in the UAE?
The debt burden ratio is the share of your gross monthly income that goes to debt repayments, and UAE Central Bank rules cap it at 50 per cent. It counts your prospective mortgage plus car loans, personal loans and a percentage of credit-card limits. It is usually the rule that decides your maximum loan, ahead of the property price itself.
Does my salary alone decide how much I can borrow?
It sets the ceiling through the 50 per cent debt burden ratio, but it is not the only factor. Lenders also weigh your existing debts, job stability, sector and employer, and your Al Etihad Credit Bureau history. Clearing a car or personal loan can raise your borrowing power more than a modest pay rise, because it frees room under the ratio.
How much cash do I need beyond the down payment?
Budget for a transfer and registration fee of roughly 2 per cent of the price, a mortgage registration fee, a valuation of around AED 2,500 to 3,500 and agency commission near 2 per cent, with most carrying 5 per cent VAT. None of these are financed, so the cash to complete is well above the deposit — commonly a few per cent of the price on top.
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