NAB becomes final major bank to clamp down on foreign buyers
All four major banks have now announced new restrictions on foreign home buyers.
All four major banks have now announced new restrictions on foreign home buyers.NAB has become the last of the big four to introduce tougher measures for foreign buyers, News Ltd has reported. The bank announced it would stop lending to foreign buyers who could not provide evidence of local income.
A NAB spokesperson told News Ltd that the bank continually reviewed its lending policies in light of market conditions and regulatory requirements.
“We recently made changes to our policy for lending to foreign applicants, which came into effect on Saturday, June 18. Under these changes, applicants will need to provide evidence of existing Australian income in order to be eligible for home lending application purposes,” the spokesperson said.
The bank will also maintain a strict 60% maximum loan-to-value ratio (LVR) for foreign applicants, News Ltd reported.
The move follows actions taken by the other major banks to curtail foreign lending. In April, Westpac announced it would stop lending to non-residents and temporary visa holders for residential property purchases. Prior to the move, Commonwealth Bank announced it would no longer accept mortgage applications from applicants with self-employed foreign income. ANZ started the foreign investor clamp-down when it announced in March it wouldn’t lend to borrowers whose income was from entirely foreign sources.
NAB told News Ltd the bank had “limited appetite” for foreign applicants, and that foreign buyers comprised only a small percentage of the bank’s lending book.
