Your debt-to-income ratio has become one of the most important numbers in your borrowing capacity, and for property investors it now carries a hard regulatory edge. Knowing what a good ratio looks like, and how the new rules treat high ones, tells you how far you can borrow and where the ceiling sits.
What the ratio actually measures
Debt-to-income, or DTI, is simply your total debt divided by your gross annual income before tax. If you earn $100,000 and borrow $600,000, your DTI is six times. As a general guide a DTI of 3 or below is very good, 4 to 5 is solid, and 6 or more is considered high risk.
The new rule that changed the game
From 1 February 2026, following an APRA announcement in November 2025, banks can write no more than 20% of their new home loans at a DTI of six times income or more, and that cap applies separately to owner-occupier and investor lending. A borrower at a DTI of 6.5 is no longer a marginal case; they now consume part of a bank's limited allocation of high-DTI lending, which makes lenders more selective at that level.
Why investors are squarely in the frame
The rule matters most for investors because investors are over-represented among high-DTI borrowers. Investors rely on borrowing across multiple properties to grow a portfolio, which naturally pushes their DTI up, so the cap can make it harder for already-leveraged investors to borrow at the upper end of their capacity.
What good looks like for you
For an investor, a good DTI is one that keeps you comfortably inside lender appetite and leaves you room to move. Sitting below six keeps you out of the constrained high-DTI bucket and gives you access to the widest range of lenders on the best terms.
JSC Property Investments helps you buy established, blue-chip property as part of a strategy that holds up for the long term. Book a Kickoff Call with our team and let's map out your next move.