LVR Calculator (Loan-to-Value Ratio)

Enter the price and your deposit or loan to see your loan-to-value ratio (LVR), whether LMI applies, and your LVR once LMI is added.

Your result

Your LVR

90.0%

Above 80% to 90%: LMI applies

Loan: $630,000 on a value of $700,000.
Deposit for an 80% LVR: $140,000. Try the home deposit calculator.
To reach 80%: borrow $70,000 less.

Some lenders set a lower LMI trigger than 80%.

Estimate only. General information, not credit or financial advice. Your lender and its insurer set the actual LMI premium.

To price the LMI itself, use the LMI calculator.

What is LVR?

LVR (loan-to-value ratio) is your loan as a percentage of the property's value. Lenders use it to set your deposit, your limits and whether you pay lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), which usually applies above 80%.

A higher LVR means less of your own money in the home, so the lender carries more risk. Lenders such as St.George work it out on the lower of the purchase price and their own valuation. For the valuation rule, LVR vs LTV and APRA's figures, see what is LVR.

In sales and marketing, LVR also means Lead Velocity Rate. This page is about home loans.

How do you calculate LVR?

Divide the loan by the property value and multiply by 100.

LVR = loan ÷ property value × 100

Take the lower of the purchase price and the bank's valuation.
Subtract your deposit to get the loan, or add up every loan secured by the property.
Divide the loan by the value and multiply by 100.

Moneysmart's example: $450,000 borrowed on a $600,000 home is an LVR of 75%.

Purchase price or bank valuation: which one counts?

The lower of the two. St.George uses the lesser of its assessed value and the purchase price, and QBE's LMI Guide defines LVR the same way. This is the most common reason a buyer's LVR ends up higher than planned. Buy at $700,000 with a $70,000 deposit and a valuation of $680,000, and your LVR is 92.6%, not 90%. Getting back to 90% takes another $18,000 of deposit.

LVR when you refinance or use equity

Add up every loan secured by the property, including the new borrowing, and divide by its current value. A home worth $900,000 with a $600,000 loan and a $150,000 top-up has an LVR of 83.3%. Usable equity at 80% is $120,000. Westpac says you may pay LMI when you refinance, restructure or top up above 80%, and LMI does not move with you: CommBank and NAB both say it cannot be transferred to another lender.

What LVR avoids LMI?

An LVR of 80% or below usually avoids LMI. At exactly 80%, whether it applies is up to your lender, and CommBank says its trigger can be lower than 80% in some circumstances. The calculator shows the deposit that gets you to 80%. Above 80%, a scheme, a waiver or a guarantor can still remove LMI: see how to avoid LMI.

What LVR do lenders allow?

Most loans with LMI stop at 95% LVR. A family guarantee or a government scheme can take you higher. These are published examples as at 29 September 2026; your lender sets its own maximum.

LVR	LMI	Published examples
80% or below	Usually none	Standard home loans
Above 80% to 90%	Applies	Westpac waives LMI for registered nurses and midwives earning at least $90,000 up to 90%. ANZ waives it for eligible accountants and legal professionals up to 90%. NAB lists up to 90% for investment loans, and CommBank set its investment maximum at 90% in 2017.
Above 90% to 95%	Applies, and costs climb steeply	ANZ waives LMI for doctors, specialists and dentists up to 95%. Westpac and St.George list up to 95% for principal and interest investment loans with LMI. 5% Deposit Scheme loans sit at 95%.
Above 95%	Beyond most LMI	QBE caps LVR at 95% before the premium is added and 100% after. St.George's Family Pledge and Westpac's Family Security Guarantee lend up to 100% of the price plus costs. The single parent stream of the 5% Deposit Scheme goes to 98%.

How does LMI change your LVR?

Adding LMI to the loan raises your LVR, because the loan grows and the value does not. CommBank's example: a $500,000 property with a $450,000 loan is 90% LVR; add $9,000 of LMI and the loan is $459,000, an LVR of 91.8%.

CommBank's guide prints 91.74%; $459,000 divided by $500,000 is 91.8%.

$700,000 home, 10% deposit, NSW, using the typical lender figure
	Loan	LVR
Before LMI	$630,000	90.0%
LMI added	$12,600
After LMI	$642,600	91.8%

LVR calculator FAQs

Does the 5% Deposit Scheme change my LVR?

No. With a 5% deposit your LVR is still 95%, or 98% on the single parent stream. The government guarantees up to 15% of the value (18% for single parents), which is why no LMI is charged. The guarantee can end once your scheduled balance falls to 80% of the value or less.

Can your LVR be more than 100%?

Yes, when the loan is larger than the property's value, usually after prices fall. If the home is then sold for less than the debt, the LMI insurer pays the lender and can recover the shortfall from you.

Does stamp duty count in your LVR?

Not directly. LVR uses only the loan and the value, but any savings you spend on stamp duty and fees are not deposit, so your loan and your LVR go up.

Why is my bank's LVR different from this one?

Three common reasons: the bank's valuation came in under the price, LMI was added to the loan, or the lender uses an LMI trigger lower than 80%.

Does a lower LVR get a lower interest rate?

It can. St.George adds a margin of 0.30% a year on several of its home loans when the LVR is above 80%, on top of any LMI.

More calculators

LMI calculatorEstimate LMI for your LVR and state from lender-published figures.

Sources

Each source was checked on 29 September 2026.

Researched and maintained by

Andrew Wortman

PhD in Financial Studies, 5 years in finance

Every figure on this page comes from a lender, insurer, government or regulator source listed above. Read our editorial policy.

Published: 29 September 2026