Commonwealth Bank Home Loan Review (Updated 2026)

Who is CommBank?

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is Australia’s largest home loan lender and one of the Big Four: a full-service, APRA-regulated major with national reach, an extensive branch network and a well-established broker channel. Its appeal isn’t about being the cheapest. It’s about a handful of useful policies, HECS/HELP servicing chief among them, wrapped in the scale and stability of the country’s biggest bank.

The top things CommBank home loans are good at

• Industry-leading HECS/HELP servicing. HELP debt close to being repaid can be excluded from servicing altogether, or assessed with a reduced buffer, and it’s excluded from DTI regardless (see below).
• Professional LMI waivers for eligible medical, legal and accounting professionals, including an extended investment-property waiver for medical borrowers.
• Flexible loan features: unlimited extra repayments, redraw, split fixed/variable, and up to two linked Everyday Offset accounts on eligible products.
• A Simple Verification pathway for salaried self-employed borrowers who only draw a wage from their own company.
• Strong first-home-buyer support: one of a limited number of First Home Guarantee participating lenders, plus first-home-buyer guides, calculators and a dedicated team.
• Modern digital tools: apply for many products online, track your application and manage your loan via NetBank or the CommBank app; the Digi Home Loan is entirely online with fast conditional approval.

Where CommBank home loans fall short

• Rates are mid-range without a package. Smaller lenders and digital challengers regularly undercut CommBank for straightforward, clean files.
• Full-doc only for the self-employed. Low-doc has been quarantined and is no longer offered, so business owners who can’t fully evidence income need a different lender.
• A hard tax-return cut-off of 28 February. From 1 March, the just-completed year’s financials become mandatory, which can catch borrowers out mid-application.
• No SMSF residential lending: property held in a super fund isn’t acceptable security at all.
• Narrow professional waiver list. Physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, engineers, IT professionals and essential workers like police, fire and teachers are excluded.
• Living expenses assessed at the higher of declared or HEM: HEM alone isn’t acceptable, so thin expense declarations get pushed up.

The real edge: HECS and HELP servicing

This is where CommBank really stands apart. If your HELP debt will be repaid within roughly a year, CommBank excludes it from servicing entirely. If it’ll be repaid within roughly five years, it’s still included, but assessed with a reduced buffer instead of the full treatment most lenders apply. Borrowers can even make a voluntary reduction to their HELP balance, with evidence typically from myGov or the ATO, to fall inside one of those windows. And regardless of which method applies, HECS/HELP is excluded from the DTI calculation altogether.

The one gate: the five-year method isn’t available if you already own five or more investment properties. But for the graduate cohort this policy is built for, young professionals with a HELP balance and a real deposit, it can be the difference between a borrowing ceiling that works and one that doesn’t. That’s exactly what our client story below shows.

Professional LMI waivers and self-employed / investment policy

Through its Mortgage Advantage Package (principal-and-interest only), CommBank waives LMI up to 89.99% LVR for eligible medical professionals (dentists, specialists, GPs, vets, pharmacists earning at least $100k from their profession, midwives, audiologists and most allied health), lawyers (with a minimum $100k income and a current practising certificate) and accounting and finance professionals (accountants, actuaries, auditors, CFOs and finance managers holding a CA, CPA, CFA or similar, also on a minimum $100k income), each capped at $5m aggregated waiver lending on a property up to $3m. Medical professionals buying an investment property have a further option, Medico Plus+, which extends the waiver to 94.99% LVR with a debt-to-income ceiling of 6 and aggregated waiver lending up to $7.5m. Physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, engineers, IT professionals and essential workers such as police, fire and teachers aren’t on the list, and there’s no general no-LMI product for non-professionals. See our LMI waivers guide for how these compare across lenders.

For the self-employed, CommBank is full-doc only. Low-doc has been quarantined. Full Verification wants two years of returns and financials (or the latest year alone if income is trending up); Simple Verification suits business owners who only draw a salary from their own company, provided the business has been trading at least two years; and a stricter One Year Financials pathway is available for trading histories over two years, with an active CBA business account, LVR capped at 80%, lending under $3m and income assessed at only 90%. A separate one-year pathway exists for specialised professions. Business owners who need a genuine low-doc or alt-doc option, or whose income doesn’t fit these boxes, are usually better matched with a specialist self-employed lender.

On investment lending, CommBank goes up to 95% LVR including LMI on principal-and-interest, with interest-only capped at 90%; refinancing another lender’s investment loan is capped at 90%. SMSF residential lending isn’t available at all. Property held in a super fund isn’t acceptable security. A Family Security Support guarantor loan is available on an 80/20 structure (plus costs), capped at 70% LVR against the guarantor’s property and principal-and-interest only, with eligible guarantors limited to parents, adult children, siblings and grandparents.

What are the different CommBank home loan products?

For new borrowers, CommBank’s owner-occupier range centres on a few core products. The right one depends on how many features you actually need:

CommBank home loan rates

CommBank updates its home loan rates regularly, and your actual pricing depends heavily on your loan-to-value ratio, the product you choose and whether you take the Wealth Package (a banking bundle that trades a flat annual fee for a lower rate and waived upfront/monthly fees). Because advertised rates move constantly, and brokers don’t work from a live CommBank rate sheet, we don’t publish specific rate figures here, as they date quickly. CommBank’s sharper pricing is typically reserved for lower-LVR borrowers and package customers, and its Green Home Loan pricing for solar, batteries and other approved energy-saving products is worth asking about separately.

Rather than chase a rate that changes week to week, the better move is a like-for-like comparison for your exact situation. Book a free assessment or call 1300 088 065 and we’ll pull live CommBank pricing alongside the 30+ lenders on our panel.

What documents does CommBank need for a home loan?

Applying with CommBank requires the standard verification documents:

• Proof of identity: a photo ID such as an Australian driver’s licence or passport (existing CommBank customers may only need their CBA card).
• Income evidence: for PAYG employees, recent payslips and matching bank statements (3–6 months if your salary isn’t paid into a CBA account). For self-employed applicants, tax returns (usually two years) and an ATO Notice of Assessment or accountant’s letter. One year may be enough under CommBank’s Simple Verification or One Year Financials policy for eligible borrowers.
• Other income and assets: rental statements or leases, dividend or Centrelink statements, and savings or investment evidence for your deposit.
• Liabilities: statements for existing loans, credit cards and any buy-now-pay-later or HECS/HELP commitments.
• Property documentation: the signed contract of sale and your solicitor/conveyancer’s details for a purchase, or a rates notice and title reference if you’re using another property as security or refinancing. For new builds, building plans, quotes and tender documents.

The more complete your file, the faster CommBank can assess it.

How much can I borrow from CommBank?

As a rule of thumb, CommBank lends up to roughly 4–6× your gross household income, and up to 90% of the property value with LMI in most cases, or up to 95% under the First Home Guarantee (without LMI) or for eligible professionals via the Mortgage Advantage Package. Your real number depends on your income, expenses, deposit and existing debts:

• Up to 90–95% LVR is possible depending on the pathway: 90% with LMI in the standard case, or up to 95% without LMI for eligible First Home Guarantee buyers and higher again for eligible professionals under the waiver.
• Serviceability is stress-tested: CommBank assesses your repayments at a higher buffer rate to make sure you can cope if rates rise, and counts your real living expenses (the higher of declared or HEM) and liabilities.
• Rental income from a boarder can count. CommBank allows formally declared rental income from a housemate to be included in servicing, which can lift borrowing power for single parents and share-housing buyers.
• Rule of thumb: most banks lend around 4–6× gross household income depending on deposit, job and debts, but your true number needs a full assessment.

Some illustrative scenarios (estimates only, not a quote or approval):

Note: these are estimates only. For a tailored figure, use a borrowing power calculator or speak to a broker.

How long do CommBank home loans take to approve?

CommBank aims for a fast process, but the real timing depends on how complete your application is:

1. 1Conditional (pre-)approvalA well-prepared online application with all details lodged can receive conditional approval within hours in straightforward cases.
2. 2Full / formal approvalMost applications take several business days for formal assessment once all paperwork is in. Complex income, large asset portfolios or self-employed files take longer.
3. 3Documents & settlementOnce approved, signing loan documents and settling typically adds one to two weeks, longer if there’s a cooling-off period or valuation delay.

Among the Big Four, CommBank’s timeline is about average. The biggest variable is you. Having your paperwork ready up front, and lodging through a broker who packages the file correctly the first time, is the single best way to keep it moving.

What else does CommBank offer?

• Government schemes: participation in the First Home Guarantee and Family/Regional Home Guarantees, letting eligible buyers avoid LMI with a small deposit. See our Home Guarantee Scheme guide.
• Green Home Loan: a dedicated product for solar panels, batteries and other approved energy-saving upgrades, plus deals for electric vehicles and energy-efficient renovations.
• Refinancing perks: conveyancing discounts through CommBank’s Home-in partnership and, historically, waived discharge fees on your old loan when you refinance in.
• Offset and redraw: Everyday Offset accounts on variable loans, plus redraw and top-up options to cut interest and keep funds accessible.
• Guarantor loans: Family Security Support lets an eligible family member’s equity help you avoid LMI or buy sooner.
• Construction and bridging: bridging finance for buying before you sell, and construction loans with their own rates and criteria.
• Rewards and full-service banking: CommBank Yello loyalty perks, plus everyday accounts, cards, insurance and business banking under one roof.

What are CommBank home loan customers saying?

Customer sentiment on CommBank is generally mixed but trending positive. In our experience, borrowers tend to praise its smooth online systems, offset features and Wealth Package discounts (where they qualify), and its participation in government schemes and first-home-buyer support tools. Independent satisfaction surveys have historically ranked CommBank at or near the top of the Big Four for customer satisfaction. The most common frustrations we hear are documentation back-and-forth (especially for the self-employed), fees that feel high outside a bundled package, and the impersonal feel of dealing with a very large bank. As with any big bank, individual experiences vary a lot depending on the branch or banker you land with, one reason many borrowers prefer to lodge through a broker who manages the file end to end.

Is Commonwealth Bank an ethical Australian bank?

Worth a mention for borrowers who weigh it up: CommBank’s history includes past conduct issues that were examined at the 2018 Banking Royal Commission, and like the other majors it remains a financier of fossil-fuel projects, which some sustainability-focused borrowers factor into their choice of lender. On the other side, CommBank has introduced green lending products (including the Green Home Loan above), published net-zero financed-emissions commitments, and runs community programs spanning financial hardship support and financial literacy. If ethical banking credentials matter more to you than convenience, it’s worth comparing CommBank against smaller, explicitly ethics-focused lenders. We can talk you through the trade-offs.

Who CommBank suits, and who it doesn’t

A client story from our desk

How does CommBank compare to other banks?

CommBank is best judged on its specifics rather than its headline rate. Each lender type leads on a different niche. Here’s how it stacks up on the things that actually decide the outcome:

For a plain-vanilla purchase where you just want the lowest variable rate, a digital lender like Macquarie or UBank may beat CommBank; for professional waivers, NAB and Westpac run similar programs worth comparing side by side.

Broker tips for applying with CommBank

• Check your HECS/HELP timeline first. If a voluntary reduction can get you inside the one-year or five-year window, the effect on borrowing power can be substantial, and it’s excluded from DTI either way.
• Mind the 28 February tax-return cut-off. Applications lodged after that date need the just-completed year’s financials, which can change your documentation requirements overnight.
• Salaried through your own company? Ask whether Simple Verification applies. It’s a lighter-touch path than full self-employed documentation.
• Not on the professional waiver list? Have us compare CommBank against lenders whose waiver or policy actually covers your profession before you commit.
• Weigh the Wealth Package on the numbers, not the pitch. It’s only worth the annual fee if you’ll actually use the bundled accounts or the rate discount outweighs the cost.

Is a CommBank home loan right for you?

CommBank is a strong choice for borrowers with HECS or HELP debt and for eligible medical, legal and accounting professionals. But the value sits in specific policies and firm cut-off dates rather than the headline rate, so getting the timing and documentation right matters. We’ll compare CommBank against 30+ lenders and tell you honestly whether it’s your best fit. Book a free assessment or call 1300 088 065 to get started.