We’ve done the hard yards and compared hundreds of home loans for this year’s awards. So if you’re a new buyer, want to refinance your existing mortgage to get a better rate, or looking at property investment, then you’ve come to the right place to begin your search for the most suitable home loan in 2022 for your needs.
Kudos to Greater Bank for being crowned Home Lender Bank of the Year. Winning awards for their Fixed Rate Home Loan, First Home Buyer Loan, Investor Loan and Investor Fixed Home Loan, they managed to secure more awards across more categories than any other bank we assessed in 2022.
Congratulations to:
Greater Bank
LVR<90%, over $150k
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<90%, over $150k
Owner Occupier, Interest Only, LVR<90%, over $150k
Investment, LVR<80%, over $150k, Principal & Interest
Investment, LVR<80%, over $150k, Interest Only
LVR<80%, over $150k
LVR<90%, over $150K, Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
LVR<80%, over $150K, Investment, Principal & Interest
LVR<90%, over $150k, Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
LVR<80%, over $150k, Investment, Principal & Interest
Huge accolades once again to Tic:Toc, having been named our Online Home Lender of the Year for 2022. This marks the fourth year in a row the tech-focused lender has won this coveted award. They took out more awards and across a wider range of categories than any other lender including Low Cost Home Loan, Offset Home Loan, First Home Buyer Loan, Fixed Rate Home Loan, Investor Home Loan and Investor Fixed Home Loan.
Congratulations to:
Tic:Toc
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Interest Only
Investor, Principal & Interest
Investor, Interest Only
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Interest Only
Investor, Principal & Interest
Investor, Interest Only
New digital lender Nano, launched in the second half of 2021 with an online approval process they claim to be the world's fastest. In addition to a super low rate, the loan features a 100% offset sub account with no account or redraw fees. Available to refinancers with a LVR of 75% or less, this loan comes with the added bonus of no foreign exchange fees, a Visa debit card, mobile App, and digital wallet (Apple and Google Pay) too.
Congratulations to:
Nano
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
With ever-changing rates in the Australian home loan market, finding a low cost loan can be imperative for many borrowers on a tight budget. For this award category the Mozo Judges assessed 278 variable rate loans for owner occupier borrowers making principal & interest repayments, and identified these as the lowest cost home loans.
Congratulations to:
FreedomLend, Homestar, Nano, OneTwo , Pacific Mortgage Group, Police Credit Union, Reduce Home Loans, Tic:Toc, and Well Home Loans
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR <80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR <80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR <60%
LVR<70%, Principal & Interest, Owner Occupier
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, Refinance Only, <60% LVR
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR 60-80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<80%
LVR <80%
LVR <80%
Refinance Only, <70% LVR
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
The more money you can put into an offset account, the less interest you pay on your mortgage, which makes having an offset feature a popular choice for many Aussie borrowers. Of the 208 variable rate home loans offering a 100% offset facility, the Mozo Judges found these to be the lowest cost loans available.
Congratulations to:
FreedomLend, Gateway Bank, homeloans.com.au, Homestar, Police Credit Union, Reduce Home Loans, Tic:Toc, and Well Home Loans
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR <80%
LVR <80%, Principal & Interest, Owner Occupier
LVR<80%, $250k+, Owner Occupier
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, 60-80% LVR
<80%, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<80%
LVR <80%
Refinance Only, LVR<80%, Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
As the ranks of environmentally conscious Australians grow, our judges thought it imperative to identify the best home loans supporting sustainability. The loans considered for this award were only available to borrowers purchasing homes certified with a minimum level of environmental efficiency. The Gateway Bank Green Plus Home Loan (Premium Package) is available for any home that achieves a NatHERS rating of 7 stars or higher, and was identified as the lowest-cost option assessed in this category.
Congratulations to:
Gateway Bank
Premium Package
Bundling your loan together with your everyday banking needs can prove financially beneficial in more ways than one. We assessed 64 products to find the lowest cost packaged loans, then identified those that were the best value options where the borrower could also get a credit card and bank account that doesn’t charge any account keeping fee with that same provider.
Congratulations to:
Bank Australia, Bank First, Macquarie, ME, and Queensland Country Bank
Owner Occupier, LVR<80%, Principal & Interest
Principal & Interest, LVR<80%
Owner Occupier, LVR<80%
Owner Occupier, LVR <80%, $200,000+
Owner Occupier, LVR less than 80%, Principal & Interest
First home buyers often have less than a standard 20% deposit, so for this category we identified the lowest cost variable rate loans for those with a deposit of 10%. The assessment included special offers for borrowers taking advantage of the Australian Government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.
Congratulations to:
Aussie, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, Bendigo Bank, Greater Bank, HSBC, ING, MyState Bank, QBANK, St.George, Tic:Toc, and Westpac
LVR 80-90%, Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR 80-95%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<90%, over $150k
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR 80-90%
LVR 80-90%, Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR 80-95%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Principal & Interest
Many borrowers like the security of having a fixed rate loan to enjoy the benefits of consistent repayments and avoid possible interest rate hikes. To be considered in this category each lender has to offer at least 3 different fixed rate terms. With this criteria accounted for, our judges assessed 164 loan products by calculating the annual cost of each fixed rate term offered and ranked them, then averaged the three best results.
Congratulations to:
Bank of us, bcu, Greater Bank, Homeloans360, Pacific Mortgage Group, QBANK, Qudos Bank, and Tic:Toc
LVR<90%, over $150k
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
LVR<90%, over $150k, Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, LVR <80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
If you enjoy getting the best of both worlds – a combination between fixed and variable rates – then a split home loan could be for you. This award category identifies the leading variable and fixed rate loan combinations from the same lender for homeowners looking to apply those rates to agreed portions of their mortgage.
Congratulations to:
Bank of us, Greater Bank, Homeloans360, Pacific Mortgage Group, QBANK, Qudos Bank, Reduce Home Loans, ubank, and Well Home Loans
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR <80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR <80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<80%
LVR<90%, over $150k
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<90%, over $150k
LVR<90%, over $150k, Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Prime, LVR 60-80%
Owner Occupier, LVR <80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR 60-80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
LVR<80%, Owner Occupier
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR 70-80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR<80%
Refinance Only, LVR<80%, Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
LVR <80%
LVR <80%
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest, LVR <80%
If you’re in the property market and have your sights set on investing, then choosing the right investor home loan is key. This award considered 249 products available for investors that offered both principal & interest and interest-only repayment as options. The winners below were found to be the lowest cost options.
Congratulations to:
FreedomLend, Greater Bank, homeloans.com.au, Homestar, ING, Reduce Home Loans, Tic:Toc, ubank, Well Home Loans, and Yard
Investor, Principal & Interest, LVR <80%
LVR<80%, Principal & Interest, Investment
Investment, LVR<80%, over $150k, Principal & Interest
Investment, Principal & Interest, 60-80% LVR
<80%, Principal & Interest
LVR<80%, Investment, Principal & Interest
Refinance Only, Principal & Interest, LVR 60-80%
Investor, Principal & Interest
Principal & Interest, Investment
Investor, Principal & Interest, LVR <80%
For this award, we identified loans with the lowest costs over a range of fixed terms for investors. We assessed 137 options, calculating the annual cost of each fixed rate term offered, and averaging the three best results. The calculation was performed using rates applicable to both principal and interest and interest-only loans.
Congratulations to:
bcu, Defence Bank, Greater Bank, Homeloans360, Pacific Mortgage Group, Reduce Home Loans, Tic:Toc, ubank, and Well Home Loans
Investment, Principal & Interest
Investor, Principal & Interest, LVR <80%
Investment, Principal & Interest
$250k to $750k, Investment
Investment, LVR<80%, over $150k, Principal & Interest
LVR<80%, over $150k, Investment, Principal & Interest
Investment, LVR <80%
Investment, Principal & Interest
Investment, LVR <80%
Investor, Principal & Interest
Now in their ninth year, the Mozo Experts Choice Awards present an opportunity to highlight products in the market we believe offer great value to Australians.
For the 2022 home loan awards, we analysed 441 home loans issued by 89 Australian financial institutions.
"With mortgage rates constantly changing, it's hard for Australians to keep up and know where to look for a better deal on their home loan," Mozo Experts Choice Awards Judge Peter Marshall said.
“When assessing the options this year, we found borrowers could save thousands over the life of their loan by simply switching to a cheaper home loan that better suits their individual needs.”
For details on how we crunched the numbers and determined our winners, see the 2022 Mozo Experts Choice Home Loan Awards methodology report.
We couldn’t have a name like the Mozo Experts Choice Awards without a dedicated and experienced team of product data analysts at the helm. Combined they have decades of experience behind them. Meet them below.
There is a reason why there are so many different categories of Mozo Experts Choice Awards for Home Loans. When you’re looking for a home loan you’ll want to think carefully about your options. The loan you land on will need to take into account your deposit size, the repayment term you’re keen on, whether you want to go with a fixed or variable rate, if you want an offset account, and much more.
If you’d like to learn more about the key features of home loans and the types of loans that are available, check out our range of helpful home loan guides. And if you’re looking for more insight into this year’s winning loans and other great options, read our take on the best home loans in Australia right now.
In Australia, the most common length of a mortgage is 25 or 30 years. However, borrowers may be able to select a shorter loan term as long as they can afford to meet the repayments.
If you're opting for an interest-only home loan, lenders will generally only let you take out this loan for a limited time period (usually a maximum of 5 years). After this time, you'll be moved across to paying off an interest and principal loan for the remainder of the mortgage unless you negotiate a different deal with your lender.
There are heaps of home loans on offer designed to cater to a wide variety of borrowers and their needs. That means that if you’re over 18 years old and an Australian citizen or resident, chances are you’ll be able to find a mortgage suitable for you.
The best home loan rates are often reserved for the best quality borrowers, who are usually defined by the deposit size they can commit and the type of loan they’re after.
Owner occupiers – aka people who plan to live in the home they’re purchasing – with a solid deposit (usually at least 20% of the value of the property) looking for a principal and interest loan can generally access the lowest rates. By contrast, investor borrowers and those after an interest-only home loan may find they have to pay higher interest rates.
Lenders also look at a number of factors including your credit history, your income, your regular expenses, other financial commitments, and how much you’re hoping to borrow when deciding your reliability as a borrower.
There are two different types of home loan repayments: interest-only and principal and interest. The option you select will make a difference to your monthly repayments.
Interest-only
An interest-only home loan is just what it sounds like – your monthly repayments will only be paying off the interest you owe, and not chipping away at your principal loan amount. While this means your monthly repayments will be lower, it also means you’ll wind up with the lump loan amount to pay off at a later date.
The other thing to remember is that usually, an interest-only term lasts for up to 5 years. After that, your lender may let you roll over into another interest-only term, or you might have to start making principal and interest repayments.
Principal and interest loans
This is what’s called an amortising loan, which means your bank has done the math so that if you pay the same amount each month toward your loan, by the end of the loan term you’ll have paid off all the interest, along with the initial loan principal.
This means your monthly repayments will be higher than with an interest-only loan. But at the end of the day, you’ll need to repay the loan principal at some point, and this might be easier to do in small chunks than larger repayments down the line, or as a lump sum at the end.
A home loan comparison rate is shown right beside the interest rate in all the tables at Mozo, and is designed to help you get an accurate idea of the ‘true’ cost of a home loan. It takes into account both interest and guaranteed fees that apply to a loan.
There are a lot of different home loans options out there, but when you compare based on the comparison rate, you know you’re looking at different options on equal footing.
One thing to remember is that the comparison rate can’t reflect things like offset accounts or other features that might save you money. So while it’s an important part of home loan comparison, it’s not the only thing you need to consider.
Running since 2014, the Mozo Experts Choice Awards recognise products that deliver exceptional value or benefits to consumers. See our Mozo Experts Choice Home Loan Awards methodology report for more detailed information on how we performed product comparisons and determined the final Home Loan Award winners for 2022.
We aim to include most home loans in the market in the Mozo Experts Choice Awards. However, not every financial institution or product on the market will be included in our review. Any product we review must be available in the market at the time of our analysis.
The Mozo Experts Choice Awards are overseen by AJ Duncanson and Peter Marshall. AJ is Mozo’s Data Director, a data scientist and actuary who has worked in financial services and product comparison for over 30 years. Peter has been in the industry even longer, and as Research Manager he leads the team of analysts that gather information and compare products every day, and perform all the calculations behind the Mozo Experts Choice Awards.
Please get in touch with us to discuss by email should you have any queries.