Norway Mortgage Stress Test Calculator 2026

When you apply for a mortgage in Norway, the bank does not only look at your income and the price of the home. It also runs a stress test (rentestresstest, in the regulation called an assessment of debt servicing capacity, betjeningsevne). The bank checks that you could still pay your bills if the interest rate on all your debt went up by 3 percentage points, with a minimum test rate of 7%. This calculator does the same check: it adds up what your debt would cost at the test rate and compares it with your income after tax, less living and housing costs.

How the test works

• The test rate is today's rate plus 3 percentage points, but at least 7%.
• All debt counts: mortgage, student loan, car loan and consumer loans. Credit lines and cards are counted as fully used.
• The budget: income after tax, minus living costs and housing costs, must cover interest and repayments at the test rate.
• Fixed rates: the test is run on the balance left when the fixed-rate period ends.

Worked example: NOK 800,000 income and three debts

You earn NOK 800,000 a year, which is about NOK 48,446 a month after tax. Living costs are NOK 15,000 and housing costs NOK 3,000 a month, which leaves NOK 30,446 for debt. You owe NOK 3,000,000 on a mortgage and NOK 250,000 in student loans, both at 5%, and have a credit card with a NOK 30,000 limit. Today the debts cost NOK 20,515 a month. At the test rate (8% on the mortgage and student loan, 23% on the card) they cost NOK 26,619. You pass with NOK 3,827 a month to spare, and the budget could take an interest rate rise of 4.7 percentage points on all the debt.

Test rate and payment on NOK 3,000,000 over 25 years

Repayment (annuity) loan. Below a rate of 4% the 7% floor applies, so the rise is more than 3 percentage points.

How the calculator treats each type of debt

For a repayment loan the calculator uses an annuity over the years you have left, at the test rate. A credit line is treated as a repayment loan for the period you choose. A credit card or other consumer credit is treated as fully used and repaid over 5 years, the repayment period the regulation sets for consumer loans. These are modelling choices, not rules in the regulation, and a bank may count them differently. Income is turned into pay after tax with the 2026 rates, separately for each borrower.

If you do not pass

Closing credit cards and credit lines you do not use often helps, since the bank counts the whole limit. Paying off expensive small loans, a longer repayment period (a lower monthly payment) or a co-borrower also help, and a fixed rate can help a little because the test is then run on the lower balance at the end of the period. Banks may lend outside the rules for up to 10% of their new mortgages each quarter (8% in Oslo), but that room is limited.

To see how much you can borrow in total, use the mortgage borrowing calculator. To see what a loan will cost you, use the Norway mortgage calculator, and add the one-off costs from cost of buying a home in Norway. If you have a student loan, see the student loan calculator.

What this calculator does not cover

It does not include the loan-to-value limit, the debt ratio limit of five times income, or the repayment requirement for large loans. The tax deduction for interest is left out, which makes the result a little cautious. Banks use their own budgets for living costs and their own view of your income, and may use a higher test rate. It cannot tell how a bank treats foreign income or a temporary contract, and the loan you type in is not checked against any bank offer. Treat the result as a first indication.