- Westpac is Australia's second-largest home lender
- It is notable for the wide range of lender's mortgage insurance waivers it offers to certain professions
- Its customer banking technology is among Australia's best
Westpac is Australia's first and oldest bank, established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales. In 1982, it changed its name to Westpac and is now the second-largest of Australia's big four banks.
The home loan book of the Westpac Group (which includes its brands St George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne) was valued at more than $514 billion as of May 2026, higher than the GDP of Denmark.
Westpac home loans and interest rates
| Lender | Home Loan | Interest Rate | Comparison Rate* | Monthly Repayment | Repayment type | Rate Type | Offset | Redraw | Ongoing Fees | Upfront Fees | Max LVR | Lump Sum Repayment | Extra Repayments | Split Loan Option | Tags | Features | Link | Compare | Promoted Product | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6.44% p.a. | 6.45% p.a. | $3,141 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $100 | 70% | Disclosure | ||||||||||||
6.34% p.a. | 6.76% p.a. | $3,108 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $395 | $100 | 70% | Disclosure | ||||||||||||
6.44% p.a. | 6.93% p.a. | $3,141 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $395 | $100 | 70% | Disclosure | ||||||||||||
6.54% p.a. | 6.55% p.a. | $3,174 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $100 | 80% | Disclosure | ||||||||||||
6.54% p.a. | 6.94% p.a. | $2,725 | Interest-only | Fixed | $395 | $100 | 70% | Disclosure | ||||||||||||
6.69% p.a. | 6.88% p.a. | $3,223 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $395 | $100 | 70% | Disclosure | ||||||||||||
5.94% p.a. | 5.98% p.a. | $2,978 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $530 | 90% |
| Promoted | Disclosure |
Westpac Bank home loans
The following loan options are available to owner occupiers and investors:
Basic Variable Rate home loan
(Flexi First Option home loan)
- Westpac's basic home loan product
- weekly, fortnightly, monthly payment options
- unlimited extra repayments
- redraw available with no redraw fees or minimum amount
- no monthly fees
- no establishment fee
- split loan option
- ability to increase loan if required (subject to formal approval
- construction loan option
- reduced repayments available (up to 50% for up to 12 months, subject to approval)
Note: no offset account option
Online discount
At the time of writing, 'life-of-loan' interest rate discount applies for new online applications for borrowers meeting certain conditions. (Offer can be withdrawn or varied at any time.)
Variable Rate with Offset
(Rocket Repay loan)
- up to 10 full offset accounts
- monthly loan account fee applies (but not as part of package loan option - see below)
- weekly, fortnightly, monthly repayment options
- unlimited extra repayments
- split loan option
- redraw available with no redraw fee or minimum amount
- ability to increase loan (subject to formal approval)
- ability to reduce repayments (up to 50% for 12 months, subject to formal approval)
- construction loan option
Fixed Home Loan
- fixed-rate home loans for one to five years terms
- free redraw (up to prepayment threshold) with no redraw fee or minimum amount
- limit of $30,000 worth of extra repayments permitted during fixed term (break fee may apply if exceeded)
- rate lock available
Premier Advantage Package home loans
Rocket loans and Fixed home loans can be taken out as part of Westpac's Premier Advantage package.
This includes:
- For Rocket variable-rate home loans: considerable rate discounts on eligible home loans [size of discount depends on owner occupier/investor status, loan amount, and loan-to-value ratio (LVR)]
- For Fixed Options home loans: 0.20% p.a. rate discount
- no loan establishment fee ($600 without package)
- no monthly account keeping fees ($8 per month without package)
- no monthly Choice transaction account keeping fee ($5 per month without package)
Optional take-up
- no annual fee on Altitude Black credit card ($295 without package)
- discounts on other products including home/landlord insurance
(All details correct at time of writing.)
What makes Westpac home loans different?
LMI waivers
Westpac offers one of the widest LMI waivers in Australia. As well as doctors, legal professionals, and accountants, Westpac extends LMI waivers to certain allied health and other professions. For example, Westpac's waiver applies to registered nurses, vets, optometrists, occupational therapists, and many more professions where eligible borrowers meeting certain income and LVR requirements.
Overtime & allowances inclusion
Westpac will include 100% of overtime and employment allowances as income in its home loan assessments for eligible healthcare, emergency service, building, or essential trade-related professions.
These include engineers, carpenters, electricians, mechanics, surveyors, and many other trades and professions.
Australia's number one banking app?
Westpac vies for bragging rights (along with CommBank) for the best banking app in Australia. It depends on which awards or reviews you consider. Suffice to say, Westpac's app is highly regarded, particularly for its personalised features that can anticipate customer needs as well as its security and fraud-protection features.
Range of loan purposes
As a big bank, Westpac caters to a wide range of borrowers and borrower needs, offering:
Loan portability (allowing existing loans to be transferred to new securitised properties)
federal government 5% Deposit Scheme loans
Strong guarantor option
Many lenders in Australia don't offer guarantor home loans. Not only is Westpac a lender that does, but Mortgage Broker Julian Finch from Finch Financial says the Westpac Group (including its subsidiary brands) offers one of the best options.
"At Westpac…the guarantor can have a mortgage on their property at a different lender and not be forced to move their lending to align with the new applicant," he told Savings.com.au
"[It] also doesn't require evidence of servicing on the guarantee amount, so the loan assessment is based solely on the borrower's merits."
Read more: What is a home loan guarantor?
Director of Amara Mortgage Brokers Tom Morison has considerable experience with Westpac home loans. Here are his pros and cons:
Benefits of Westpac home loans
Efficient process
"Westpac issues home loan packs electronically and enables borrowers to sign via Westpac Live, which removes a lot of friction at contract stage (our experience is documents are typically released quickly after formal approval).
"It's also switched on Consumer Data Right (CDR) sharing through ApplyOnline, giving customers easier access to their banking data straight from the source - resulting in less chasing and cleaner file quality for everyone."
Pricing
"In my recent experience, their pricing on all frontiers of home loan products has been competitive and usually makes my shortlist of recommended lenders."
Good for first home buyers
"For first home buyers using the 5% Deposit Scheme…we see explicit, well defined document pathways [at Westpac] which helps keep files on track."
Downsides to Westpac home loans
Building restrictions
"Westpac has a register of all apartment buildings nationwide and while other banks don't have restrictions for particular suburbs or properties, Westpac can be a little picky on which property they will allow to be used as security."
Pre-approval isn't fully assessed
"Westpac has shifted to lighter‑touch assessment on some of their pre-approvals."
Westpac home loans: Pros & Cons
Here's a brief summary of the strengths and weaknesses of Westpac's home loans:
Pros
- Broad LMI waivers: Westpac arguably offers LMI waivers for the widest range of potential borrowers, not only for high-income professionals but also certain allied health and other professions earning steady but more modest incomes
- Counts 100% overtime/allowances as income: Again, Westpac extends these income calculations to a broad range of professions in medical fields, essential services, and trades
- Good for guarantor loans: Westpac has a reputation of being highly flexible with guarantor and family equity arrangements
- Wide product range: As a big bank, Westpac offers home loan products and features to service a considerable range of borrower needs and circumstances
- Loan portability: Westpac allows an existing home loan to be carried across to a new property without having to go through another application process, saving on both loan discharge and new loan establishment costs
- Multiple offset accounts: Rocket Repay loans offer up to 10 offset accounts, meeting both loan repayment and personal budgeting considerations
- Highly rated technology: Westpac's app and online banking technology is among the best in the country
Cons
- Borrowers may be pushed towards package loans: Discounts and fee waivers are considerable via Westpac's Premier Advantage package but cost $395 a year to access. Be sure to do your sums for what best suits your particular needs
- May not be the best for the self-employed: Rules are different for high-earning medical professionals but others who can't provide full documentation may find more accommodating lenders, particularly those after quick approvals
- Some property restrictions: Westpac will turn down home loan applications for certain properties, including small apartments, those in high-density areas, and some remote areas