It's the first question most buyers ask: given my salary, how big a mortgage can I actually get? Below are worked figures for the two most common UAE salary bands — AED 15,000 and AED 20,000 a month — and, more importantly, the one rule that decides the answer.
Note: the loan and property figures here are indicative. They assume an expat first home, a ready property, a 25-year term and an indicative 4.25% rate, with no other debts. They move with the interest rate and anything you owe — so use them to set expectations, then run your own numbers in the eligibility calculator.
The short answer
- AED 15,000 salary → a loan of about AED 1.04 million, which at the 80% expat first-home cap supports a property of around AED 1.3 million with a deposit of roughly AED 259,000.
- AED 20,000 salary → a loan of about AED 1.38 million, a property of around AED 1.73 million, and a deposit of roughly AED 346,000.
It's your Debt Burden Ratio that decides — not your salary
The Central Bank requires that your total monthly debt repayments stay within 50% of your income — the Debt Burden Ratio (DBR). On AED 15,000 that leaves about AED 7,500 a month for a mortgage; on AED 20,000, about AED 10,000. Crucially, that is the ceiling the bank tests you against, not the cheque you write each month — at the real 4.25% rate your actual repayment is lower.
Why the stress test shrinks the loan
Banks must check you could still pay if rates rose 2–4 percentage points. We use a +3pp buffer, so a 4.25% loan is sized to fit within your DBR ceiling at a stressed 7.25%. That higher test rate is exactly why a AED 7,500 monthly allowance buys a AED 1.04M loan rather than something larger. The mechanics are in our guide to the UAE mortgage stress test.
The income multiple is higher — so it doesn't bite
There is a second Central Bank cap: expats can borrow up to seven times annual income. That works out to about AED 1.26M on a 15k salary and AED 1.68M on 20k. Both are higher than the DBR-based figures of AED 1.04M and AED 1.38M — so at these salary levels the 50% DBR governs, and the 7x multiple never becomes the constraint. This is the part most online "salary x multiple" shortcuts get wrong.
Debts come straight off the top
Because the DBR is the binding rule, every other repayment you have eats directly into your loan. Take a AED 20,000 salary with a AED 2,500 a month car loan: that drops your mortgage allowance from AED 10,000 to AED 7,500 — pulling your maximum loan down from about AED 1.38M to roughly AED 1.04M, the same as a 15k salary with no debts at all.
Credit cards count even when unused: banks typically treat about 5% of your total card limit as a monthly commitment, so a AED 50,000 limit is counted as roughly AED 2,500 a month — the same drag as that car loan. (That 5% figure is lender practice, not a Central Bank rule, so confirm the current treatment with your bank.) Clearing or reducing a limit before you apply is one of the quickest ways to lift your number.
UAE nationals: a slightly bigger picture
Nationals get an 8x income multiple and an 85% first-home LTV. The 8x cap (about AED 1.92M on a 20k salary) is still above the DBR loan, so the borrowable loan is the same — the DBR binds for everyone. What changes is the deposit: 15% rather than 20% means less cash up front for the same property. See our deposit guide for the full LTV table.
Is there a salary floor as well?
These figures assume you clear a bank's minimum income, which is a separate question. There is no Central Bank salary floor — banks set their own, often around AED 15,000 for expats. That is covered in our minimum salary for a mortgage guide; this page answers the next step — given your salary, how much you can borrow.
Run your own numbers
Every figure here shifts with your exact rate and your debts, so don't rely on the round numbers. Put your real salary, any car loan and your card limits into the eligibility calculator — it applies the 50% DBR, the stress test and the LTV cap together and shows the loan and property price you can realistically target.