How Much House Can You Really Afford in 2026?

Buying a home in 2026 is a numbers game first and an emotion game second. Before you fall in love with a listing, run your debt-to-income ratio.

The classic guideline is the 28/36 rule: keep total housing costs under 28% of gross monthly income, and total debt payments under 36%. Lenders in the US, UK, Canada and Australia all use a variation of this.

Start with your gross monthly income, subtract any fixed debts (car payments, student loans, credit-card minimums) and use our Mortgage Affordability Calculator to back into a max home price. Then stress-test it: what happens if interest rates jump 1%? If your property tax reassesses upward?

A safe rule of thumb: the payment you can *comfortably* afford is usually 10–20% lower than the payment you *qualify* for.