Established in 1911 as a government-owned trading bank and a savings bank, Commonwealth Bank was fully privatised in 1996 and has since become one of Australia’s ‘Big Four’ banks.
Commonwealth Bank is Australia’s largest bank and also its biggest mortgage lender.1 It offers a variety of different types of home loans, catering to a broad range of borrowers.
| Offset accounts available | ✅ |
| Redraw facilities available | ✅ |
| Line of credit available | ✅ |
| Split rate option available | ✅ |
| Green loan available | ✅ |
| Ability to make extra repayments | ✅ |
| Internet banking available | ✅ |
| Salary crediting | ✅ |
| Choice of repayment flexibility | ✅ |
| Refinance available | ✅ |
| Services first home buyers | ✅ |
Commonwealth Bank’s range of home loan products may include:
Commonwealth Bank offers home loans that may be appropriate for first home buyers, refinancers, people wanting to build a home on vacant land, those looking for bridging finance between their current home loan and their next loan, property investors, and more.
However, when it comes to what types of borrowers Commonwealth Bank lends to, there are a few points that prospective borrowers should keep in mind.
The first is that Commonwealth Bank has a minimum required loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of 95%, meaning you won’t be approved for a home loan with Commonwealth Bank if your saved deposit is less than 5% of your total proposed loan size.
Additionally, depending on the suburb a property is located in, Commonwealth Bank may require a lower minimum LVR in order to reduce the perceived risk of lending against a property in that area.
Commonwealth Bank also likely won’t approve a home loan if you don’t have the capacity to repay your proposed home loan commitment at a rate 3% higher than the advertised interest rate. This is because the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) currently requires all lenders to assess an applicant’s ability to service their proposed home loan in the event of interest rate hikes.
Yes, Commonwealth Bank provides home loans to first home buyers. While there is no specific home loan product for first home buyers, Commonwealth Bank has tools and resources designed to help people navigate the process of buying a home for the first time.
Yes, Commonwealth Bank is one of the 33 participating lenders chosen by the Federal Government to offer the Home Guarantee Scheme. The Home Guarantee Scheme helps certain home buyers secure a home loan with a deposit smaller than 20%, without having to pay lenders mortgage insurance (LMI).
The Home Guarantee Scheme is made up of three separate initiatives:
Applications for one of these schemes can only be made through a participating lender or a mortgage broker acting as an authorised representative of a participating lender.
Yes, you can switch your home loan to Commonwealth Bank from another bank by refinancing. Eligible borrowers refinancing their loan with Commonwealth Bank can switch to either a fixed, standard variable rate or split rate loan and add a redraw facility and/or an offset account to eligible loans.
Additionally, eligible borrowers refinancing with Commonwealth Bank may be able to utilise First Title’s FASTRefi® settlement process, which can reduce the time required to refinance your home loan down to a few days. However, FASTRefi® is only available for eligible home loans from selected lenders and may not be appropriate for your personal financial objectives and circumstances.
Commonwealth Bank generally requires borrowers to take out lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) if the borrower’s deposit represents less than 20% of the total loan value.
However, Commonwealth Bank offers several alternatives to paying LMI for some borrowers with a saved deposit worth less than 20% of their proposed loan size. These options include:
Commonwealth Bank charges four types of home loan fees: fees payable at the time of settlement or funding, fees that may apply during the term of your loan, fees for paying off your loan early, and fees for prepaying or switching a fixed rate home loan.
See the table below for a list of the most common home loan fees charged by Commonwealth Bank. Not all of these fees will apply to every home loan, and some are circumstance-specific (e.g. the fee you’d pay for closing a fixed rate home loan early).
| Fee | When/why it’s payable | Cost |
| Additional security fee | Payable if you’re registering more than one security against your home loan and one or more of said securities isn’t already registered with Commonwealth Bank | $150 per new security |
| Establishment fee | Payable at the date of settlement or funding | |
| Home loans/Viridian line of credit loans (excluding off the plan purchases) | $600 | |
| Off the plan purchases for both new and existing home loans | $800 | |
| Split loans with variable and fixed rate components | $600 for each of the first two loans plus $300 for each additional loan | |
| Increasing the size of an existing home loan or Viridian line of credit | $300 | |
| Progressive drawing fee | Payable on construction home loans at each of your loans’ drawdown stages | $75 per drawing |
| Rate lock fee | Payable if you choose to lock in a reference interest rate on a new fixed rate home loan application | $750 per rate lock |
| Security guarantee fee | Payable if your home loan application involves a guarantor | $200 per borrower |
| Settlement fee | Payable at settlement | $200 |
| Settlement cheque fee | Payable if you require more than two cheques to fund/settle your home loan | $15 per cheque |
| Annual Wealth Package and Mortgage Advantage fee | Charged annually on home loans that have either a Wealth Package (for non-brokered loans) or Mortgage Advantage (for brokered loans) added to them | $395 per year |
| Late payment fee | Payable monthly if your home loan account falls into arrears | $20 |
| Loan service fee | Charged monthly to loan accounts on the repayment due date | |
| All home loans except Viridian lines of credit | $8 per month | |
| Viridian lines of credit (charged on the first calendar day of each month) | $12 per month | |
| Security substitution fee | Payable if you ask to substitute one loan security for another | $300 |
| Trust investigation fee and UTC Clause 2.1 | Payable if Commonwealth Bank incurs investigation costs while processing a loan application involving a trust | To be advised when calculated |
| Administrative fee | Payable if you repay a fixed rate home loan in full before the fixed rate period expires, or if you make additional repayments exceeding $10,000 in any year of your fixed rate loan | $50 |
| Early repayment adjustment | Payable if you end your fixed rate period early, either by repaying your loan in full, making more than $10,000 in additional repayments in a year, or switching to a variable rate | To be advised when calculated |
| Settlement fee (discharge) | Payable if you discharge the loan by selling part or all of the property attached to the loan or refinance your home loan with a different provider | $350 |
For more information, check the Key Facts Sheet for the loan you’re considering or speak to one of our Home Loan Specialists.
If you want to learn more about Commonwealth Bank home loans, you can use our home loan comparison tool to compare them against a wide range of other loan products.
Comparing home loans with us means you’re only presented with home loans you’re eligible to apply for, and our dedicated team of Home Loan Specialists can help you with any questions you may have.
If you find a home loan that you think might be appropriate for you, you can apply for it then and there – entirely online, with no physical paperwork!
So, if you’re in the market for a home loan, compare your options today with Compare the Market!
Stephen has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry and holds a Certificate IV in Finance and Mortgage Broking. He’s also a member of both the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) and the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA).
Stephen leads our team of Home Loan Specialists, and reviews and contributes to Compare the Market’s banking-relating content to ensure it’s as helpful and empowering as possible for our readers.
