A home loan, also known as a mortgage, is a type of loan that is designed to help individuals finance the purchase of a residential property. This can be their own home or an investment property.
It is a long-term loan provided by a financial institution, such as a bank or lender. The property is the security for the loan, and lenders require borrowers to save a deposit.
Want more details? Check out Finder's guide on how to buy a house.
Here's a breakdown of features and charges you should know about.
| Feature | What is it? | What you should know |
|---|---|---|
| Interest Rate | The percentage charged by the lender on the amount borrowed. | The higher the interest rate, the higher your repayments will be. |
| Comparison Rate | Designed to help borrowers understand the true cost of the home loan by considering both the interest rate and loan fees. | The comparison rate is based on an example calculation and is not an exact indication of a loan's costs to you. |
| p.a. | This abbreviation of "per annum" is used for home loan interest rates, because the annual (or yearly) value is shown. | While interest is expressed as an annual percentage, most borrowers make monthly or fortnightly repayments. |
| Offset Account | A transaction account linked to a home loan. The balance on the offset account is deducted from the amount owed when calculating interest. | The more money you put in an offset, the less interest your lender charges you. Your monthly repayments stay the same but you can repay the loan faster. |
| Redraw facility | Allows borrowers to access extra funds that they have voluntarily paid towards their mortgage (on top of usual repayments). | Any additional repayments you make will reduce the amount owing on your loan, so when you redraw from those funds the amount you owe will increase again. |
*The products compared on this page are chosen from a range of offers available to us and are not representative of all the products available in the market. There is no perfect order or perfect ranking system for the products we list on our Site, so we provide you with the functionality to self-select, re-order and compare products. The initial display order is influenced by a range of factors including conversion rates, product costs and commercial arrangements, so please don't interpret the listing order as an endorsement or recommendation from us. We're happy to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions, but we'd like you to make your own decisions and compare and assess products based on your own preferences, circumstances and needs.
The Finder Score crunches 7,000 home loans across 120+ lenders. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees and features, as well as the type of loan eg investor, variable, fixed rate - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, we compare like-for-like loans. So if you're comparing the best home loans for cashback, you can see how each home loan stacks up against other home loans with the same borrower type, rate type and repayment type. We also take into consideration the amount of cashback offered when calculating the Score so you can tell if it's really worth it.
Read the full Finder Score breakdown
Finder Score is an easy, data-driven way to judge home loans at a glance. Our insights team compares more than 7,000 home loans across 120+ lenders to give each product a score out of 10 comparative to other products of its type.
This means we compare products against others of its type. For example, variable rate home loans against variable rate home loans, and investor home loans against investor home loans. In total, there are 12 different product groupings.
We filter the loans in our database for each category so that we're only looking at loans that work for the borrower type. So, if we're picking the best loan for first home buyers, we'll only look at lenders that lend to first home buyers and have a maximum LVR of 90%.
The final Finder Score takes into account the product's interest rate and its fees. The higher the score, the lower the cost compared to other products of its type.
Need an owner-occupier home loan? Compare rates, understand home owner tax rules and more.
By using the equity you have in your property, you could borrow cash for a number of reasons without needing to make regular repayments back into the loan.
Keystart offers loan products helping Western Australians get homes sooner with just a 2% deposit and no LMI.
Work out how much you need to earn to buy a house in any Australian suburb.
How to accurately estimate the cost of building your own house.
When fixed rates fall below variable rates, it could portend ominous economic outcomes. We explain how it all works.
Discharged bankrupts start off their financial state fresh, but some may still find it difficult to get a mortgage. Discharged bankrupts may still get a home loan, but with stricter conditions and higher loan rates.
Find out how you can afford a property on a single income and learn how to compare different loans to get the best deal.
If you haven't sold your house yet, but want to buy your next one before the sale is completed a bridging loan may be able to help. Read on to discover how bridging finance can help.
You may be able to get a low deposit home loan with just a 5% cash deposit. Here are the lenders who are more likely to lend you a 95% loan.
