HSBC home loans

HSBC offers home loans that may be appropriate for first home buyers, refinancers, borrowers hoping to be home-builders, borrowers looking for bridging finance, and more. They also offer line of credit home loans, as well as packaged and guarantor-friendly home loans.

However, when it comes to what types of borrowers HSBC lends to, there are a few points that prospective borrowers should keep in mind.

The first is that HSBC has a minimum required loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of 95%, meaning you are unlikely to be approved for a home loan with HSBC if your saved deposit is less than 5% of your total proposed loan size.

HSBC also likely won’t give you a home loan if you don’t have the capacity to repay your proposed home loan at a rate 3% higher than the advertised interest rate. This is because the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) requires all lenders to assess an applicant’s ability to service their proposed home loan in the event of interest rate hikes.

Yes, HSBC provides home loans to first home buyers. While they don’t have a specific home loan product designed for first home buyers, they have several tools and resources available to first home buyers designed to help them navigate the process of buying a home for the first time.

No, HSBC is not one of the 33 participating lenders chosen by the Federal Government to offer the Home Guarantee Scheme. If you’re a prospective first home buyer looking to access the Home Guarantee Scheme, you may want to find a different lender to work with.

The Home Guarantee Scheme helps certain home buyers secure a home loan with a deposit smaller than 20%, without having to pay lenders mortgage insurance (LMI).

The Home Guarantee Scheme is made up of three separate initiatives:

• The First Home Guarantee, which allows eligible first home buyers to purchase a home with a deposit of as little as five percent.
• The Family Home Guarantee, which allows eligible single parents to purchase a home with a deposit of as little as two percent, regardless of whether they’re a first home buyer or not.
• The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, which allows eligible first home buyers to purchase homes in regional areas with a deposit of as little as five percent.

Applications for one of these schemes can only be made through a participating lender or a mortgage broker acting as an authorised representative of a participating lender.

Yes, you can switch your home loan to HSBC from another bank by refinancing. Borrowers refinancing their loan with HSBC may be able to add a redraw facility and/or an offset account to their new home loan (if eligible), and can choose from both fixed and variable rate options.

HSBC advises that they’ll likely require a borrower to take out lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) if the borrower’s LVR is 80% or greater – meaning the borrower’s saved deposit represents less than 20% of the total home loan value they’re applying for.

As of 14 May 2024, HSBC charges the following home loan fees:

• Establishment fee ($600)
• Loan settlement fee ($150)
• Loan splitting fee ($100)
• Home loan package fee ($390)
• Guarantor preparation fee ($100)
• Multiple security property fee ($150)
• Fixed rate lock fee ($750)
• Discharge fee ($300)
• Loan variation fee ($300)

Please note that these fees are subject to change without warning. Check the Key Facts Sheet of any home loan product you’re considering, to see how its fees and charges stack up.