HLG022 How to improve your chances of getting a home loan (545 words)

It’s not only higher property prices that are making it difficult to get a home loan. Changes to banking policies are making the process even more complex. This article explains what lenders will want from a borrower and how to meet those requirements. It recommends professional guidance from a financial planner and a mortgage broker.

Finding it harder to obtain a home loan? Don’t take it personally. The banking regulators are placing tighter limits on how much banks and other financial institutions can lend. This is largely in an effort to exert some control over Australia’s infamously high housing costs and, more generally, to reduce our historically high level of household debt.

On top of that, the banks themselves are concerned that any increase in interest rates will put more households under financial stress, leading to an increase in missed mortgage repayments.

That said, in a tighter home loan market there are still things you can do to put yourself ahead of the pack.