Westpac home loans

Westpac offers home loans that may be appropriate for first home buyers, refinancers, prospective housebuilders, borrowers needing bridging finance between home loans, property investors and more.

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

The first is that Westpac has a minimum required loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of 95%, meaning you are unlikely to be approved for a home loan with Westpac if your saved deposit is less than 5% of your total proposed loan size. Additionally, Westpac imposes a 70% maximum LVR for certain packaged loans and discounted interest rates.

Westpac 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, Westpac provides home loans to first home buyers. While there isn’t a specific home loan product for first home buyers, Westpac offers several tools and resources to help first home buyers navigate the process of buying a home for the first time.

Yes, Westpac is one of the 33 participating lenders chosen by the Federal Government to offer the Home Guarantee Scheme. 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).

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 Westpac from another bank by refinancing. Borrowers refinancing their loan with Westpac can choose either a fixed or standard variable rate to switch to and can add an offset account to eligible loans.

Additionally, borrowers with Westpac may be eligible for Westpac’s Priority Refinance process, which can cut the time required for settlement down to days instead of weeks.

Westpac advises that they require a borrower to take out LMI when the borrower’s deposit represents less than 20% of the total loan value, but there may be other circumstances that also necessitate the borrower paying LMI.

Westpac allows borrowers to either pay their LMI upfront or roll it into their home loan, which is known as ‘capitalising’ LMI.

As of May 31, 2024, Westpac lists the following home loan fees and charges pertaining to its home loan products:

• Lending Establishment Fee: $600
• Document Processing Fee: $100
• Fixed Rate – Lock-In Fee: The higher of 0.15% of the loan amount or $500
• Annual Package Fee: $395
• Loan Account Fee: $8 per month
• Loan Discharge Fee: $350
• Missed Payment Fee: $15

Please note that not every fee listed will be applicable to every home loan offered by Westpac. Check the Key Fact Sheet of any home loan product you’re looking at to see what fees you’d pay if you took out the loan in question.