What is the minimum income to buy an investment property in NZ?

As a rule of thumb, we suggest it's worth starting to explore investing once your household income reaches around $100,000 a year. But there isn't a single minimum income. It depends on your deposit, existing debts, household expenses and overall financial situation.

Can I invest in property on one income?

Yes. You don't need two incomes to invest in property. Many single people buy investment properties. But you'll generally need a higher individual income. That’s because you're relying on one income to service the mortgage. The exact income you need depends on your deposit, debts and overall financial situation.

How much deposit and income do I need?

Property investors need a 30% deposit when buying an existing investment property. Or, 20% when buying a New Build. The income you need varies depending on your debts and household situation.

Do I need a higher income if I already have a mortgage?

Usually, yes. If you have a mortgage, you have more debt. The more debt you have, the more income you’ll need to get another loan.

Mortgages

8 min read1 Jul 2026

How much money do I need to earn to invest in property?

In this article, you’ll learn the 5 main factors that will determine how much income you need to buy an investment property.

Author: Louis Fraysse

Louis is a registered financial adviser with an MBA from Massey University.

Book session with Louis

Reviewed by: Dennis Schipper

Financial adviser for 3+ years. Helped nearly 500 Kiwis buy property.

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It's worth starting to think about investing in property once your household income reaches around $100,000 a year.

That doesn't mean you'll automatically qualify for an investment mortgage. But it's worth exploring your options.

A couple with no mortgage and a clean financial situation can usually buy a $560k investment property on a $122k household income. But the exact figure you need depends on your deposit, debt, kids and existing mortgage.

That’s because two people can earn exactly the same income, yet the bank may lend one of them way more than the other.

Your income is only one piece of the puzzle. The bank also looks at how much debt you already have, and your overall financial situation. They want to make sure you’ve got enough money to pay the mortgage, even if things change. Like if interest rates rise, or you max out your credit card.

In this article, you'll learn the five biggest factors that determine how much income you need to buy an investment property.

Factor	Need less income when...	Need more income when...	Why it matters
Cash deposit	You have a large deposit (e.g. 20%)	You're borrowing most (or all) of the purchase price	A bigger deposit means a smaller mortgage and lower repayments.
Personal debt	You have little debt. No credit cards, personal loans or hire purchase	You have lots of debt. Large credit limits, car loans or personal loans	The bank counts those debts when working out what you can afford.
Children	No dependent children	Several dependent children	Kids increase your household costs, so the bank may lend you less.
Exisiting mortgage	Little or no home loan	Large owner-occupier mortgage	Big mortgages mean big repayments. So you have less left over money to afford a mortgage.
Income split	Income is shared between partners	One person earns most of the household income	A more even income split means you pay less tax and have more take-home income.

Factor #1 – Cash deposit

The bigger your cash deposit, the less income you’ll usually need to invest in property.

Less income	More income
20%+ deposit saved	$0 deposit (borrowing all the money from the bank)

Let’s say you want to go buy an investment property. If you have a large cash deposit, you don’t need to take out as big a mortgage, so your mortgage repayments will be lower.

That means, you don’t need to earn as much to be approved for your mortgage.

Whereas if you are borrowing all of the money to invest, you will need to earn more.

Factor #2 – Personal debt

The more personal debt you have, the higher your income will need to be to get an investment mortgage approved.

Less income	More income
No credit cards	Several personal loans, and a hire purchase

Any credit card, even if left unused in your wallet, can impact how much you can borrow. It can make a big difference.

This is because the bank will often assume the worst-case scenario.

Let’s say your credit card has a $10k limit. The bank may assess your mortgage application as if you have already maxed out your $10,000 card. Yes, even if you haven’t spent a cent.

They’ll then work out what you’d have to pay if you did max out your credit card. Then they’ll look at your application as if you’ve already done this.

It’s the same with personal loans. The more repayments you have, the less income the bank will see as left to pay the new mortgage.

So, if you don’t have credit cards or personal loans, you won’t need as much income to invest. But, if you have lots of personal loans, hire purchases and credit cards, you’ll need to earn more to get started.

Factor #3 – Children

The more dependent children you have, the more income the bank will generally expect you to earn before approving your next mortgage.

Less income	More income
No kids	Several dependent children

Kids are expensive. Parents know it. So do banks.

That’s why having kids will affect how much you can borrow.

For starters, if you’ve just had a child you may only have one income. Or one parent may be working part-time.

But even if you’ve managed to sidestep that, banks know it costs more to feed and house a growing family. So, when they run the numbers they factor that in.

That means they’ll say you’ve got less money to pay a new mortgage, so they’ll typically lend you less money.

Factor #4 – High personal mortgage (lots of debt)

The larger your existing mortgage, the higher your income will usually need to be before the bank lends you more.

Less income	More income
No mortgage	Large personal mortgage

This is a bit of a no-brainer.

If you have a large mortgage, the bank will need you to have a higher income before they lend you more money. If you don’t have a mortgage at all, you don’t spend as much money. Your expenses are lower, so you don’t need to earn as much.

For instance, a couple with 3 kids looking to purchase a $560k investment property might need an income of $122k. That’s if they don’t have a mortgage on their own house.

But if they still have $500,000 left on the mortgage of their own home, that income number they need starts to jump up.

Factor #5 – Income split

How your household income is split can affect how much the bank thinks you can afford.

Less income	More income
Both partners earn the same amount	1 partner earns all the money

It also matters how much each partner earns in your household (if you have a partner).

Let’s say you’ve got a couple with a household income of $200k. We have a progressive tax system in New Zealand. This means you're at a disadvantage if one partner earns all the money.

Let's say 1 partner earns $200k, and the other partner isn’t earning. Maybe they’re at home with the kids.

The household will pay $58,120 a year in tax.

Now let’s change things up. If both partners earn $100k each, it’s the same household income ($200k). But together they’ll only pay $47,840 in tax.

So, the total take-home pay is over $10k higher. All because 2 people share the household income.

So, if both partners earn a good income, sometimes you need less money to buy an investment property compared to one higher-income earner.

Why does the bank care about my income?

The bank cares about your income because it needs to check you can afford the mortgage. So they calculate whether you can afford the loan under stricter test conditions.

That’s why when you put in a mortgage application, they calculate your Uncommitted Monthly Income (UMI).

Think of this as “spare cash”. They want to make sure that even after you’ve paid for all your expenses, loans, bills and petrol … you still have money left over at the end of the month.

And they want to make sure that’s true even if interest rates go up, or you max out your credit card.

Let's not get into the nitty-gritty of how banks assess your lending. Instead, this table shows how much household income you might need to buy an investment property:

Situation	Estimated household income needed
Family buying first investment (clean financial position)	$122k
Same family with a $10k credit card	$124k
Single rent-vestor (no personal debt)	$91k
Experienced investors with multiple mortgages and other debt	$340k

Case study #1 – Family buying a first investment

A couple with two children wants to buy their first investment property in Christchurch for $559,000. They have $300,000 remaining on their home mortgage and no credit cards or personal loans.

Based on a 7x Debt to Income Ratio (DTI), they would need a combined household income of $122,000 to buy the property. (That’s including the rental income from the new investment property)

If they also had a $10,000 credit card, the required household income would increase to $124,000.

Case study #2 – Single rent-vestor

A single investor wants to buy a $539,000 investment property while continuing to rent.

With no children, no personal debt and a clean financial position, they would need to earn $91,000 a year.

Of course, this also depends on how much rent they are paying.

Someone renting a room or living with their parents may find it much easier to make the numbers work because their housing costs are lower.

As a rough guide, it is much easier to make the numbers work if your rent is around the same as, or lower than, the repayments on your investment property.

Case study #3 – Experienced investors

A couple already owns their home and two investment properties. They want to purchase a third investment worth $895,000.

Because they already have large mortgages, a car loan, a student loan and a credit card, they would need a combined household income of $340,000. This is taking into consideration the rental income they get from their investments.

These examples show why there isn't a single income you need to invest. Your borrowing power doesn't just depend on your salary. It depends on your debts, household expenses and overall financial position.

What trips borrowers up most? An adviser's view

Peter Norris is the Managing Director at Opes Mortgages. He was the BNZ Mortgage Adviser of the Year in 2018 and has helped borrowers get $1.2 billion+ of loans.

He says: “The biggest thing that trips borrowers up is often their credit card limit.

That’s because banks don’t just look at how much you actually owe on the card. They look at the full limit as if you could max it out at any time. That can make your expenses look higher and reduce how much you can borrow.

The same goes for consumer debt, like interest-free hire purchases or Afterpay. Borrowers often assume these won’t matter because they’re interest-free. But banks still count them when they work out whether you can afford the loan”.

So, how much income do I need to invest?

There is no single income you need to invest in property, because the right number depends on your personal situation.

Yes, it’s partly to do with how much you earn, but also your situation and how much debt you have.

This is why two people can earn the same income but be approved for two different loan amounts.

Always speak to a mortgage adviser about how much you can borrow to invest.

Key points:

A household income of $100k is a good place to start thinking about investing in property
As a rule of thumb, a couple with no personal mortgage can usually buy a $600k investment property on a household income of around $122k
The more debt you have, the more income you’ll need to get another mortgage approved
It’s possible to invest on one income
Every figure here assumes a bank servicing test rate of around 7% (June 2026), so check the current rate before relying on the numbers.

Louis Fraysse

Louis is a registered financial adviser with an MBA from Massey University.

Louis is a registered financial adviser with an MBA from Massey University. He's also a property investor and a father. So he understand firsthand what it's like to balance family, investments, and long-term financial goals. Louis is based in Auckland.

Book session with Louis View Profile

Ok, now for the legal bit:

This article is for your general information. It’s not financial advice. See here for details about our Financial Advice Provider Disclosure. So Opes isn’t telling you what to do with your own money.

We’ve made every effort to make sure the information is accurate. But we occasionally get the odd fact wrong. Make sure you do your own research or talk to a financial adviser before making any investment decisions.

You might like to use us or another financial adviser

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Why does the bank care about my income?

The bank cares about your income because it needs to check you can afford the mortgage. So they calculate whether you can afford the loan under stricter test conditions.

That’s why when you put in a mortgage application, they calculate your Uncommitted Monthly Income (UMI).

Think of this as “spare cash”. They want to make sure that even after you’ve paid for all your expenses, loans, bills and petrol … you still have money left over at the end of the month.

And they want to make sure that’s true even if interest rates go up, or you max out your credit card.

Let's not get into the nitty-gritty of how banks assess your lending. Instead, this table shows how much household income you might need to buy an investment property:

What trips borrowers up most? An adviser's view

Peter Norris is the Managing Director at Opes Mortgages. He was the BNZ Mortgage Adviser of the Year in 2018 and has helped borrowers get $1.2 billion+ of loans.

He says: “The biggest thing that trips borrowers up is often their credit card limit.

So, how much income do I need to invest?

There is no single income you need to invest in property, because the right number depends on your personal situation.

Yes, it’s partly to do with how much you earn, but also your situation and how much debt you have.

This is why two people can earn the same income but be approved for two different loan amounts.

Always speak to a mortgage adviser about how much you can borrow to invest.