Finder’s Home Loan Awards methodology

Here's how we determined the winners of Finder's Home Loan Awards in 2024.

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By

Rebecca Pike

Edited by

Jason Loewenthal

Updated

Fact checked
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What are the Finder Home Loan Awards?

Finder's Home Loan Awards are part of the annual Finder Awards program. We evaluate home loans from across the market by looking at interest rates, loan fees and features to find our award winners.

Why you can trust our research

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3000+
loans assessed
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200+
providers analysed
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100+
hours of research

Selection criteria

The products were included in the categories if they were currently available and met the following criteria:

  • All categories: An interest rate of 7.5% or under.
  • Owner Occupier Home Loan - Variable: Variable interest rate, 80% max LVR or higher, principal-and-interest repayment type.
  • Owner Occupier Home Loan - 1-3 Year Fixed: Fixed interest rate, 1- to 3-year fixed rate length, 80% max LVR or higher, principal-and-interest repayment type.
  • Investor Home Loan - P&I - Variable: Variable interest rate, investor home loan, 80% max LVR or higher, principal-and-interest repayment type.
  • Investor Home Loan - Interest only - Variable: Variable interest rate, investor home loan, 80% max LVR or higher, interest-only repayment type.
  • Investor Home Loan - Interest only - 1-3 Year Fixed: Fixed interest rate, 1- to 3-year fixed rate length, investor home loan, 80% max LVR or higher, interest-only repayment type.
  • First Home Buyer Home Loan: Variable interest rate, first home buyer loan, 90% max LVR or higher, principal-and-interest repayment type.
  • Owner Occupier Home Loan - Refinance Variable: Variable interest rate, 70% max LVR or higher, principal-and-interest repayment type, less than $200,000 min loan amount, more than $500,000 max loan amount.
  • Owner Occupier Home Loan - Refinance Fixed: Fixed interest rate, 70% max LVR or higher, principal-and-interest repayment type, less than $200,000 min loan amount, more than $500,000 max loan amount.
  • Home Loan Provider of the Year: 80% LVR or higher, investor and owner-occupier, any repayment type, same weighting as owner-occupier variable.
  • Big Four Home Loan Provider of the Year: 80% LVR or higher (also investor and OO), any repayment, same weighting as owner-occupier variable.

Scoring

Metrics scored using either the tired scores when dealing with categorical data points or a dynamic scoring when dealing with numeric data. Finder's dynamic scoring means a product's metric is scored in comparison to the data points of all the other competitor products.

MetricsScoring
Offset facility10 if offset account available, 0 if not
Interest rateInverse percentile rank
Total feesInverse percentile rank

Weights

Home Loans Awards methodology weightings · dw:rWtSZ
Products/providersOffset accountInterest rateTotal fees
Owner Occupier Home Loan - Variable10%80%10%
Owner Occupier Home Loan - 1 Year Fixed20%80%20%
Owner Occupier Home Loan - 2 Year Fixed80%20%
Owner Occupier Home Loan - 3 Year Fixed80%20%
Investor Home Loan - P&I - Variable10%80%10%
Investor Home Loan - Interest only - Variable10%80%10%
Investor Home Loan - Interest only - 1 Year Fixed80%20%
Investor Home Loan - Interest only - 2 Year Fixed80%20%
Investor Home Loan - Interest only - 3 Year Fixed80%20%
First Home Buyer Home Loan10%80%10%
Owner Occupier Home Loan - Refinance Variable10%80%10%
Owner Occupier Home Loan - Refinance Fixed80%20%
Provider of the Year10%80%10%
Big Four of the Year10%80%10%
Source: Finder

Final award score

The final award score is calculated by first calculating a score for each of the previous 12 months. This evaluates each product against the competing products in those particular months. This score is calculated by multiplying the score for each metric by the weight percentage and summing the weighted scores:
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The final award score is calculated by taking a weighted average of the monthly scores with more recent months being weighted progressively heavier. This final award score is then ranked to determine the overall winners for each category.

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Why you can trust our awards

expert advice

Expert analysis

Our Home Loan Awards winners are based on 100+ hours of research by our expert authors and insights team.

help

They're comprehensive

We researched hundreds of Australia's most popular home loans from the biggest banks to the smallest online lenders.

independent

They're independent

Some winners may be partners but this never influences our decisions. All loans are based on a clear methodology and must meet editorial standards.

Meet our experts

Richard Whitten

Richard Whitten


Editor for money


Richard Whitten is a money editor at Finder. He has been covering home loans, property and personal finance for the last 6 years.
Saranga Sudarshan awards analyst

Saranga Sudarshan


Insights analyst, Finder Awards


Saranga is responsible for gathering the data that fuels the Finder Awards. He ensures our winners are based on facts, not biases.
Rebecca Pike senior writer

Rebecca Pike


Senior writer, home loans


Rebecca is a senior writer at Finder covering all things home loans. She has been writing about the home loan market in Australia for almost 6 years.
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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Jason Loewenthal as part of our fact-checking process.
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Written by

Editor, Money
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Rebecca Pike is Finder’s money editor, with over 7 years of experience in mortgages and personal finance. A frequent TV and radio commentator, she frequently appears on Sunrise and 7News, Today and 9News, as well as Sky News, Channel 10 and across radio and print. Rebecca previously served as Editor of Mortgage Professional Australia. She has a Master’s degree in Journalism as well as ASIC-recognised certifications in Tier 1 Generic Knowledge and Tier 2 General Advice Deposit Products, which comply with ASIC guidelines. See full bio

Rebecca's expertise
Rebecca has written 253 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Home loans
  • Personal Loans
  • Car Loans
  • Cost of living
  • Budgeting
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