NAB and CommBank open up new First Home Loan Deposit spots

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

Both CommBank and NAB began accepting new requests for the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme today, after its extension was announced earlier in October.

The scheme (FHLDS) was extended as part of the 2020-21 Federal Budget for an additional 10,000 places, and supports applications from 6 October to 30 June next year.

The revised Scheme tightens its focus, and is instead only eligible for those purchasing new builds, which could also be used in conjunction with HomeBuilder.

It took just over four months for all 10,000 spots to be filled in the first wave of places, and under the FHLDS, there are 27 lenders participating (seen below).

CommBank and NAB comprise of about 50% of the loans settled under the Scheme since inception, according to a source at NAB.

Buying a home or looking to refinance? The table below features home loans with some of the lowest variable interest rates on the market for owner occupiers.

CommBank group executive Angus Sullivan said one in four home loans Australia-wide are with the bank, and said the bank has helped more than 3,000 borrowers settle a home under the Scheme, which has seen 20,000 spots in total available.

"We know that saving for a deposit can be difficult. Given the challenges faced by many of our customers over the past few months, we support any initiatives that play a constructive role in helping first home buyers get onto the property ladder and support the broader economic recovery, specifically in the construction industry," Mr Sullivan said.

“We are proud to have been a major participant in the Scheme since its inception and have helped more Australians purchase a home under the Scheme than any other lender."

NAB home ownership executive Andy Kerr said the Scheme was popular, and that the bank expects it to remain so this time around.

“The expansion of the Scheme will provide more opportunities for Australians to enter the housing market, while the focus on new builds will also support Australia’s critical construction sector," he said.

The FHLDS allows first home buyers to buy into the market with only a 5% deposit, without paying lenders mortgage insurance (LMI). 

In August it was revealed the Scheme supported one-in-eight first home buyers, while other banks have introduced their own discounted LMI special offers outside of the Scheme. 

New FHLDS price caps

As part of the extension announcement earlier in October, price caps for capital cities were also raised. The cap movements are:

• Sydney: From $700,000 to $950,000
• Melbourne: From $600,000 to $850,000
• Brisbane: From $475,000 to $650,000
• Canberra/ACT: From $500,000 to $600,000
• Perth, Adelaide, Hobart: From $400,000 to $550,000
• Darwin/NT: From $375,000 to $550,000

A number of regional centre specifications were also broadened and raised as well.

Lenders participating in the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme

All up there are 27 lenders participating in the FHLDS.

Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are the two major banks participating, while the remaining ones are:

1. Australian Military Bank
2. Auswide Bank
   
3. Bank Australia
   
4. Bank First
   
5. Bank of us
   
6. Bendigo Bank
   
7. Beyond Bank Australia
   
8. Community First Credit Union
   
9. CUA
   
10. Defence Bank
    
11. Gateway Bank
    
12. G&C Mutual Bank
    
13. Indigenous Business Australia
    
14. Mortgageport
    
15. MyState Bank
    
16. People’s Choice Credit Union
    
17. Police Bank (including the Border Bank and Bank of Heritage Isle)
    
18. P&N Bank
    
19. QBANK
    
20. Queensland Country Credit Union
    
21. Regional Australia Bank
    
22. Sydney Mutual Bank and Endeavour Mutual Bank (divisions of Australian Mutual Bank Ltd)
    
23. Teachers Mutual Bank Limited (including Firefighters Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank, Teachers Mutual Bank and UniBank)
    
24. The Mutual Bank
    
25. WAW Credit Union

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Disclaimers

The entire market was not considered in selecting the above products. Rather, a cut-down portion of the market has been considered which includes retail products from at least the big four banks, the top 10 customer-owned institutions and Australia’s larger non-banks:

• The big four banks are: ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac
• The top 10 customer-owned Institutions are the ten largest mutual banks, credit unions and building societies in Australia, ranked by assets under management in November 2020. They are (in descending order): Credit Union Australia, Newcastle Permanent, Heritage Bank, Peoples’ Choice Credit Union, Teachers Mutual Bank, Greater Bank, IMB Bank, Beyond Bank, Bank Australia and P&N Bank.
• The larger non-bank lenders are those who (in 2020) has more than $9 billion in Australian funded loans and advances. These groups are: Resimac, Pepper, Liberty and Firstmac.
• If you click on a product link and you are referred to a Product or Service Provider’s web page, it is highly likely that a commercial relationship exists between that Product or Service Provider and Savings.com.au

Some providers' products may not be available in all states. To be considered, the product and rate must be clearly published on the product provider's web site.

In the interests of full disclosure, Savings.com.au, Performance Drive and Loans.com.au are part of the Firstmac Group. To read about how Savings.com.au manages potential conflicts of interest, along with how we get paid, please click through onto the web site links.

*Comparison rate is based on a loan of $150,000 over a term of 25 years. Please note the comparison rate only applies to the examples given. Different loan amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees and costs savings, such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan.

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