Home Loan Comparison Calculator

Why the sharpest rate often loses

A rate is only one of four costs. Add the annual package fee, the upfront establishment and valuation fees, and subtract any cashback, and the ranking frequently reverses. On a $600,000 loan, 0.10% is about $600 a year — so a $395 annual package fee eats two thirds of the saving before you've made a single repayment. The table above sorts by total cost over the period you actually expect to keep the loan, which is the only comparison that reflects real money.

What an offset account is worth

At a 6% rate, every $10,000 sitting in an offset account saves roughly $600 of interest a year, and it saves it tax-free — no interest income to declare. That's why a package loan with a full offset can beat a cheaper basic loan outright once your balance is meaningful. The calculator only applies your offset balance to products that genuinely offer one, which is where most online comparisons quietly mislead people.

Loadings you can't avoid

• Investment purpose — roughly 0.20–0.40% above owner-occupier pricing, driven by APRA capital rules.
• Interest only — another 0.20–0.30%, because regulators treat it as higher risk.
• Above 80% LVR — a further pricing tier, plus a one-off LMI premium that can run into tens of thousands.
• Credit history — a specialist lender's premium reflects risk, not a penalty; it's usually temporary until you can refinance.

Features that matter, and features that don't

Worth paying for: a full offset if you hold cash, unlimited extra repayments if you plan to pay down faster, and a split facility if you want part fixed and part variable. Rarely worth paying for: a bundled credit card, a "premium" package on a small loan, or a fixed rate taken purely because it looks lower than the variable — lenders price fixed rates off their own expectations of where rates are heading, not as a gift.

How lender choice differs from rate choice

For a clean, low-LVR PAYG file, this is genuinely a pricing exercise and the cheapest approver wins. For a self-employed borrower with one year of returns, a casual worker, or anyone with a default listed, most of the cheap options simply won't approve the loan — the real comparison is between the two or three lenders whose credit policy fits. Applying to the sharpest lender and getting declined costs you a credit enquiry and several weeks.

A note on the numbers

The rates above are indicative of the ranges we're currently seeing across each lender category, not offers or quotes, and they exclude LMI. Lenders reprice constantly and negotiate at the individual-file level, especially on loans over $750,000. Use this to work out which type of lender and which feature set suits you, then get real pricing on your file.