If you’re looking to get pre-approval for a home loan before putting in an offer on a property you like, a lender with a quick approval time could be the difference between nabbing the house of your dreams and missing out. While it absolutely shouldn’t be your primary consideration, you might prefer a lender with a track record of processing applications quickly if you’re in a time sensitive spot.
Buying a home or looking to refinance? The table below features home loans with some of the lowest interest rates on the market for owner occupiers.
| Lender | Home Loan | Interest Rate | Comparison Rate* | Monthly Repayment | Repayment type | Rate Type | Offset | Redraw | Ongoing Fees | Upfront Fees | LVR | Lump Sum Repayment | Additional Repayments | Split Loan Option | Tags | Features | Link | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6.04% p.a. | 6.06% p.a. | $2,408 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $530 | 90% | Featured 4.6 Star Customer Ratings |
| |||||||||
5.99% p.a. | 5.90% p.a. | $2,396 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $0 | 80% | Featured Apply In Minutes |
| |||||||||
6.09% p.a. | 6.11% p.a. | $2,421 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $250 | 60% | Featured Unlimited Redraws |
|
What is home loan approval?
Home loan approval means your lender has greenlit you to borrow a certain amount of money. It shouldn’t be confused with settlement, which is the legal process of transferring ownership of the property. If you’re trying to get ahead by applying for the loan before you start putting in offers, to have a firm estimate of your buying power, you are applying for pre-approval, which is generally the same process. However, keep in mind that pre-approval is not a guarantee that the lender will approve the loan.
Fast home loan approval
Even if a lender has an average home loan approval time, that doesn’t necessarily mean your application will be processed in that timeframe. Some applications are more complicated, and might need to be referred to the credit department of the bank, while in many cases, lenders need to go back to applicants for additional information.
Some of the things that might make an application take longer to process include:
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When a borrower has a complicated financial situation (e.g. working as a sole trader) it might take longer for a lender to assess, as it will be more complicated than just using payslips.
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If a borrower has a chequered credit history, the lender might need to complete a more comprehensive credit check, which could take longer.
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Lenders often have a maximum debt-to-income threshold, where any application where the borrower will exceed the maximum is automatically referred to the credit department
As a borrower, there are a couple of things you can do to ensure your application goes through as fast as possible:
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Be prepared. The most common reason applications are delayed is incomplete information. Be thorough in your initial application, ensuring you aren’t missing any documents.
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If you’re self-employed, ensure you’re providing enough information to demonstrate your income. You might need to include personal tax returns, ABN information, or profit and loss statements.
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Maintaining a strong credit score will avoid associated delays
Which lenders have the fastest home loan approval times?
We spoke to a number of different lenders in Australia to discover a range of home loan approval times.
CommBank Home Loan Approval times
According to CommBank’s website, loans can take between 4-7 business days to be accepted, although some customers have home loan contracts in place within 60 minutes.
Australia’s largest lender, Commonwealth Bank (CBA), said in 2021 that its average home loan approval time was two days.
“For CBA’s branch network, the average time to approval was 2 calendar days and the median time to approval was 1.7 calendar days, for the period January 2021 to March 2021,” a CBA spokesperson told http://Savings.com.au .
Savings.com.au contacted CommBank for a more up-to-date estimate, but didn’t get a response.
NAB Home Loan Approval times
As of September 2023, about 90% of home loans applications at NAB were processed through the ‘Simple Home Loan’ digital platform, with what Home Ownership Executive at NAB Andy Kerr calls “fast and effortless” approvals.
More than a third (35%) of eligible customers are approved in less than an hour, while 50% of applicants receive a decision within 24 hours.
“We have seen some home loans unconditionally approved in as little as 15 minutes,” Mr Kerr told Savings.com.au.
ANZ Home Loan Approval times
As of September 2023, ANZ said it had the following average turnaround times for assessing a home loan application:
|
Stage |
‘Simpler switch’-Like for like refinances that meet certain requirements |
Simple application |
Complicated application |
|---|---|---|---|
|
New application |
1 day |
3 days |
7 days |
|
Additional documents |
2 days |
3 days |
3 days |
After the loan is approved, there are also the following average wait times:
|
Stage |
Service level |
|---|---|
|
Document preparation |
1 day |
|
Document verification |
1 day |
Suncorp home loan approval times
According to Dylan Atherton, Head of Home Lending Products at Suncorp, the bank normally turns around home loan applications in under three days. He told Savings.com.au Suncorp is always looking to enhance the experience for both customers and brokers, adding products like the Suncorp Bank SunLight loan, where eligible lower risk applications receive a fast tracked response within 48 hours.
“We’ve also bought our identity verification process online and introduced electronic document signing,” he said.
Macquarie Bank home loan approval time
A Macquarie spokesperson told Savings.com.au the bank understands how important a quick turnaround time is for brokers and customers.
“As of November 2023, our usual home loan approval time is 4 hours or less for applications with all the required documents provided,” they said.
loans.com.au home loan approval time
Online lender loans.com.au says it can provide approval for applicants in as little as two to three days, pending the customer's individual circumstances and all the correct documentation has been provided.
“It's important to note that this is not a 'one size fits all' number, and the approval time will depend on each individual applicant's circumstances,” loans.com.au Managing Director, Marie Mortimer, told Savings.com.au.
“An obvious advantage to using a lender with a quick approval time is getting the keys to your property sooner, or in the case of refinancing, starting to save thousands on your home loan as soon as possible.
“No one wants to keep paying too much interest on their home loan.”
Bank of Queensland home loan approval time
Bank of Queensland (BOQ) told Savings.com.au in 2021 that its average approval time for a conditional approval was two business days. Since then though, the bank has stopped sharing this information externally, so could not provide an update for 2023.
AMP Bank home loan approval time
AMP Bank told Savings.com.au in 2021 its turnaround time to initial credit decision came in at six days, after investment in digitalisation and automation over the past two years.
“Ongoing investment in our technology, processes and people will ensure AMP Bank continues to deliver fast and consistent service to our customers, brokers and advisers,” Sean O’Malley, Managing Director at AMP told Savings.com.au.
Since then, the process has clearly improved, with the AMP website saying the majority of digital home loans can be approved within 24-48 hours these days.
ING Home Loan approval times
According to its website, ING had the following average turnaround times for applications with all necessary documentation
|
Business days to decision |
|
|---|---|
|
Purchase/Refinance |
2.5 days |
|
Non-assessed pre approval |
2 days |
UBank Home loan approval time
UBank, an online lender that operates as a division of NAB, have the following standard wait times throughout the approval process.
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Online application takes about 20 minutes to fill out
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There is typically a turnaround time up to 5 business days for approval unless there is any missing information
ME Bank Home loan approval time
As of 20th November 2023, ME had the following estimates for home loan wait times
|
Pre check and submission |
Time to verification and initial assessment |
Time to credit assessment |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Simple loans |
Same day (if submitted before 2pm) |
+ 1 day |
+ 2 days |
|
Complex loans (include LVR>80%, self employed borrower, construction loan) |
Same day (if submitted before 2pm) |
+ 2 days |
+ 2 days |
Tiimely home loan approval time
Tiimely, formerly TicToc, told Savings.com.au it can offer most applicants same day home loan approval.
“The majority of our home loans can be approved on the same day, with the fastest time being less than 58 minutes, starting from the time a customer begins their application,” Laura Osti, Head of Marketing and Communications at Tiimely told Savings.com.au in 2021.
“That 58 minutes includes only 10 minutes of human assessment time. We have digitised our credit policy and have created a series of data models to make lending recommendations for our human assessment team.
“While our AI speeds things up immensely, every lending decision is made by a person, not a computer.”
Article first published July 2021, by Alex Brewster, last updated 13 March 2024
Photo by Cara Fuller on Unsplash
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