The LMI Calculator estimates Lenders Mortgage Insurance for an Australian home purchase from your property value, deposit, and state. It computes your loan and LVR, looks up the premium rate for your exact LVR band and loan-size tier, and — unlike simple estimators — adds the stamp duty charged on the LMI premium itself in most states, giving you the full premium and the total loan with LMI capitalized.
How It Works
Above 80% LVR a premium applies, priced from a rate matrix: rows for each whole LVR step from 81% to 95%, columns for loan size (up to 500k, 750k, $1M, and above). Rates climb steeply with LVR — from about 0.5% of the loan just over 80% to over 4.6% at 95% on larger loans. Most states then tax the premium: NSW and QLD 9%, VIC, WA, TAS, and NT 10%, SA 11%, and the ACT 0%.
Loans above 95% LVR are flagged as too high for an estimate — mainstream lenders generally do not write them outside guarantee schemes.
Worked Example 1: 10% Deposit in NSW
Property 60,000: loan 600k tier, where the 90% LVR rate is 2.18%: base premium = 11,772**. NSW duty on the premium at 9% adds 12,831.48 and a total loan of 600,000 is 60,000 more than the current deposit.
Worked Example 2: Same LVR, Bigger Loan, Different State
Property 80,000 (LVR still 90%): loan 750k tier where the 90% rate is 2.367% — base premium **1,704.24, total **5,900 more premium: LMI prices both the LVR and the loan size, because the insurer's exposure scales with both.
For contrast, at LVR 85% on a 90,000 deposit, 6,476** all-in in NSW — moving from 90% to 85% LVR roughly halves the premium, which is why the last stretch of deposit saving is worth so much more than the first.
Capitalized or Upfront?
Most borrowers capitalize the premium — add it to the loan, as the total-loan figure shows — rather than paying cash at settlement. That preserves your deposit but means paying mortgage interest on the premium for the life of the loan, and it nudges your effective LVR up. Some lenders cap the LVR including capitalized LMI, which can matter at 95%. Also know the alternatives the calculator cannot price: professional-package LMI waivers some lenders offer certain occupations, guarantor loans, and the Australian Government's 5% Deposit Scheme, under which eligible buyers pay no LMI at all — check the first-home guarantee calculator for that path before accepting a premium as inevitable.
Limitations
This is an estimator built on a representative rate matrix. Each insurer (Helia, QBE) and lender prices from its own tables, with loadings for self-employment, investment properties, and non-standard security that a two-input tool cannot see; quotes on the same loan routinely vary by thousands between lenders. The state duty rates applied to the premium are the general rates; exemptions and the precise treatment can differ. Treat the figure as a planning estimate to compare deposit scenarios — your broker's lender-specific quote is the binding number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is there stamp duty on an insurance premium?
Because most states levy duty on general insurance premiums, and LMI is an insurance policy — the fact that it protects the lender does not exempt it. The ACT is the exception in this calculator at 0%. It is a modest amount (roughly a tenth of the premium) that simple estimators omit and borrowers then meet as a surprise at settlement.
If I refinance later, do I pay LMI again?
Possibly. LMI attaches to the loan, not to you: a new loan with a new lender at over 80% LVR generally requires a new premium, with at best a partial refund of the original in the first year or two. This is a real switching cost to weigh before refinancing for a slightly lower rate early in a loan.
Does paying LMI ever make sense?
Yes — when the cost of waiting exceeds the premium. If prices are rising faster than you can save the extra deposit, paying roughly 40,000 more. The calculator's extra-deposit figure frames exactly that trade-off.