The banks that mortgage brokers rate best (and worst) in 2026

How much a bank will lend now matters nearly as much as the rate it charges. That's the main finding from Macquarie's annual mortgage broker survey published this week.

With over 450 responses from mortgage brokers, the survey also shows a drop in investor demand since the May Budget's negative gearing and capital gains tax changes, and a return of price competition that is cutting into bank returns.

Here’s what the findings show for borrowers and investors.

Borrowing power now the second most dominant factor

While the best rate is still what customers want most, the response from brokers shows that the importance of borrowing power surpasses time for approval to become the second most critical factor.

With rate hikes, higher living costs and high house prices, more borrowers are pushing to their limit. Brokers estimate about 40% of their customers borrow close to their maximum capacity, up slightly from 37% last year. More than a third of brokers say over half their clients do.

Brokers say some lenders are loosening credit policy to make up for it.

"I think generally slightly more relaxed credit policy, more lenders making common-sense decisions, more one-touch unconditionals," one said.

On the other side of this, existing borrowers are finding refinancing more difficult in a higher rate environment. APRA requires banks to test that a borrower could still repay if rates rose 3%, and that test applies again when a borrower refinances.

"Some existing borrowers can comfortably demonstrate a strong repayment history at their current interest rate, yet may still struggle to refinance to a lower rate because they need to pass a completely new serviceability assessment," one broker said. “In some cases, refinancing would actually improve their monthly cash flow and reduce risk."

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BORROWERS

Switching lenders pays less than it used to

According to RBA data, the gap between rates for new and existing owner-occupier borrowers is now under 5 basis points.

Most banks will match to within 10-20 basis points of their new-customer rate if an existing customer asks. About 30% of customers renegotiated their rate in the past six months, up slightly from 27%, showing improvement in customer retention rates - but with under 5 basis points difference, the shift probably proves to be immaterial.

Brokers rate Bankwest, ING and Westpac best for this, and CBA and NAB harder to deal with. One broker noted that some banks only offer their best rate once a customer has formally started moving their loan elsewhere.

Speed and approvals differ widely

One of the key factors for brokers is how quickly a bank will look at an application for the first time. For the most part, simple applications were able to be processed within a reasonable time frame. CBA and Bankwest are the quickest, followed closely by Westpac and St George. Although brokers noted NAB actually worsened year-on-year, and ANZ and Suncorp being the weakest, with anecdotes citing lack of certainty in the migration process between the two.

Approval odds differ, too. Brokers say 41–48% of applications at Bankwest, NAB, CBA and Westpac typically get unconditional approval. At ANZ the figure is 31%, which brokers often blame on its offshore credit assessment.

Property investors are holding off

About 80% of brokers have seen fewer investor enquiries since the tax changes were announced, and 64% say the fall has been significant. The drop is steepest for established dwellings.

Most investors are waiting rather than selling; 72% are delaying or cancelling purchases and 51% plan to hold existing properties for longer, since those are grandfathered under the new rules. About a third (35%) are considering selling, 28% are putting more into super and 21% are shifting to new builds.

"We are seeing a shift towards owner-occupier loans as the tax reforms bite investors," one broker said.

Family money is doing more of the work

With housing affordability being the biggest policy issue nationally, Macquarie asked brokers in their survey about the prevalence of family support in purchasing property. 

Brokers noted that on average 15% of their customers received a cash gift or loan from family, averaging $71,000 (up from $64,000). A further 11% had family members act as guarantors. In NSW the average gift is $92,000, about 50% higher than in other states.

What it means for bank shareholders

Mortgage returns are heading lower

Macquarie estimates the return on equity for new mortgages fell to 8% in 2022–23, when competition was stiff. It has recovered since and sits at 14%, however Macquarie notes that's still above the banks' cost of capital. Competition has risen steadily since the Budget, and Macquarie expects returns to keep easing, with mortgages to "remain a drag on margins in 2027".

ANZ is leading the pack with more competitive pricing on investor and interest-only loans, and in offering cashbacks on refinancing. 73% of brokers now rank it among the most competitive lenders on price, up from 32% a year ago. 

CBA and NAB are seen as the least competitive of the majors.

Westpac closes the gap on CBA

Macquarie put together an aggregate score based on pricing, retention, systems, turnaround times and credit decisions into one broker preference score. 

Years of spending on Westpac's mortgage systems is paying off according to broker feedback. 57% of brokers now rank Westpac among the lenders with the best systems.

On that measure, Westpac and St George now rank ahead of CBA. Bankwest (CBA-owned) scores best, despite not competing hard on price.

ANZ's growth comes with risk

ANZ improved more than any other bank on Macquarie's combined score, but almost entirely because of price - its systems remain among the weakest, with only 28% of brokers ranking them highly.

Suncorp Bank's customers move fully onto ANZ's systems next year. Macquarie sees an elevated risk that some will leave during the switch, putting ANZ's revenue at risk in FY27 and FY28.

NAB steps back from brokers

NAB is now the weakest of the majors with brokers. Its systems and retention scores fell, and its average time to first look at an application blew out by nearly a day.

Macquarie notes NAB has signalled little appetite for lower-returning broker loans above 70% loan-to-value, meaning borrowers with deposits under 30%, and have been pricing less competitively here.

Brokers also accuse it of offering worse rates through brokers than direct to customer.