🏡 Brisbane Joins the Million-Dollar Club 🚗 How a New Car Loan Reduced a Couple’s Borrowing Capacity by $100K. Self-Employed Lending is getting easier 🎉 Success! Pre-approval approved in 5 hours!💥

🏡 Brisbane Joins the Million-Dollar Club

Brisbane has officially become Australia’s second-most expensive capital city housing market, overtaking Melbourne and Canberra, with median house values hitting $1,011,000 in June 2025.

Since the start of the COVID housing boom in 2020, Brisbane house values have surged by an impressive 76%, driven by:

• A 9.2% population growth (235,000 new residents) from June 2020–2024

• A shortfall in housing supply, with around 94,000 new households and only 88,000 new dwellings completed

• A surge in interstate migration, particularly from southern states, attracted by affordability, lifestyle, and strong job opportunities

Brisbane's median house price now sits:

• $63,000 higher than Melbourne’s

• $30,000 above Canberra’s

• But still $549,000 below Sydney’s

However, affordability constraints are starting to emerge, with the pace of price growth slowing—now at 1.9% for the quarter, down from 3.5% a year ago and 10.2% in late 2021.

This market shift could mean more balanced conditions ahead, making now a pivotal time for both homeowners looking to leverage equity and investors seeking long-term capital growth.

🧾 Self-Employed? Here’s What You Need to Know About Borrowing in 2025

Good news for self-employed borrowers — major lenders like NAB, CBA, Westpac, MACQUARIE and St. George are now offering more streamlined processes for assessing self-employed income.

✅ While the general rule of thumb still stands (borrowing capacity = approx. 5x your income), the more detailed financial information you can provide, the greater your potential borrowing capacity.

But here’s the catch — this isn’t one-size-fits-all. That’s where your mortgage broker comes in.

💡 What we do for you:

• Gather all relevant financials (including company profits, directors’ wages, depreciation, and one-off expenses)

• We’ll assess which lenders offer the best outcome based on your unique financials and future goals — and help determine whether a full Self-Employed Application is required, or if your Company Director’s Salary alone is sufficient to service your loan.

• We identify which lenders accept addbacks like:

  • Interest expenses

  • Depreciation

  • One-off non-recurring costs

  • Company profits

  • Leases, Lease-to-buy

  • Capital Gains or Losses

  • Dividens

  • On top of your director’s salary

Lenders like Newcastle Permanent may offer more borrowing power, but typically require two years’ worth of financials. In contrast, some others can be more flexible, like NAB and require only 1 year's financials.

👣 If you're self-employed and thinking about buying or refinancing, reach out today — we specialise in helping self-employed clients, just like us. As mortgage brokers, we understand the challenges of running your own business and know how to present your financials to help you secure finance and grow your wealth through property.

We recently worked with a couple earning $55,000 and $75,000 annually, with no dependents and a solid financial setup:

• Self-employed income with $21,530 depreciation, $2,973 in interest expenses, $49,000 in company profits, and $3,923 in allowable addbacks.

• Rental income of $600 per week from an investment property.

With this strong financial position, their borrowing capacity came in at approximately $1.3 million.

✅ However, shortly after, we were told they'd taken out a new car loan for around $55,000, with monthly repayments of $918.

This reduced their borrowing capacity to $1.2 million — a $100,000 drop, just from one financial decision.

💡 Lesson: If you're thinking about buying a car and applying for a mortgage, always speak to your mortgage broker before taking on new debt. Even seemingly manageable car loans can have a significant impact on how much you can borrow.

🎉 Success!
Pre-approval for a construction loan was approved in just 5 hours! 🏗️💥

How did we make it happen?

✅ We submitted a high-quality application
✅ Included detailed broker notes
✅ Highlighted surplus funds and supporting documentation
✅ Presented the client’s position clearly and strategically

When you work with an experienced broker who knows how to package your application, lenders can make faster decisions — which means you can move forward with confidence.

👣 Thinking of building or renovating? Let’s chat.

👣 At Best Foot Forward Mortgage Solutions, we make it easy to take the next step with confidence.

📞 Call us directly on 0417 693 281
📅 Or click the link below to book a chat at a time that suits you.

🔗 Book an Appointment

#FastPreApproval #ConstructionLoan #MortgageBroker #BestFootForward #HomeBuild #FinanceDoneRight

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