As Australia’s property market heats up with spring listings and government support programs, home buyers are facing unexpected hurdles in securing mortgage approvals. A surge in applications has overwhelmed banks and mortgage brokers, pushing some lenders to turn to automated assessments to keep up with the demand. While this speeds up the process, it introduces new risks for buyers relying on accurate financial evaluations before making major purchase decisions.
A Shift in Lending Practices Driven by Demand
Mortgage brokers across the country are reporting a clear trend: more Australians are trying to enter the market, and they’re doing so quickly. This wave of activity has been partly triggered by the expansion of the 5% deposit scheme for first-home buyers, which allows eligible purchasers to buy a home with a smaller upfront deposit. But with more people applying for loans, processing times have ballooned.
“It’s just the volume of people wanting to now get their pre-approval and there’s a lot more submissions than previously,” said Nathan Kovatch, a mortgage broker based in Sydney.
Before this spike in demand, brokers noted that banks would typically process pre-approvals in just two to three days. Now, it can take up to 15 days, depending on the applicant’s circumstances and the bank’s capacity. This leaves many buyers in limbo, unable to make offers or bid at auctions while waiting on paperwork.
Automated Assessing: A Shortcut With Consequences
To manage this workload, some banks have begun relying on automated assessments. These are faster but far less thorough than traditional processes. While speed is appealing, automation doesn’t always capture the full picture of a borrower’s financial situation.
“Some have switched over to automatic assessing,” Lachlan Williams, a mortgage broker at Nfinance in Melbourne, told Yahoo Finance. “They don’t do fully-assessed pre-approvals. It’ll pretty much be a credit check on you and a very basic automated check, and then they’ll just give you pre-approval. But they haven’t actually looked at the policy and looked through your scenario, so you got to be careful with things like that.”
This means that lenders are no longer looking closely at key details—how income is structured, how stable a job is, or whether existing debt might affect repayments. The end result is a quicker “yes,” but potentially based on flawed assumptions.
The Danger of Overlooking Financial Nuances
One of the biggest risks with automation lies in how income is reviewed. When a borrower enters their earnings into an application, that number might be accepted at face value without verification or breakdown.
“Say you earn $100,000 as your income, and that’s stated on your application. That’s what gets looked at for the pre-approval,” said Williams. “In more of these lighter assessments, the assessor won’t query how the $100,000 income is made up.”
This might not be a problem for salaried workers with consistent pay, but for those with commission-based jobs, casual shifts, bonuses, or freelance income, it can become a serious issue later on—especially if the lender eventually reviews the application more thoroughly just before settlement. Yahoo Finance recently highlighted these issues, warning that such shortcuts can give buyers a false sense of security about how much they can borrow.
Strategic Caution Required for Home Buyers
In this environment, buyers must approach pre-approvals with greater scrutiny. While the bank may say “yes” quickly, that approval may rest on incomplete data. This could backfire during auctions or negotiations if the buyer discovers that their actual borrowing power is lower than expected.
Experts recommend that potential buyers secure full pre-approval before starting their property search, even if that takes longer. A thorough pre-approval not only gives a clearer picture of affordability, but also reduces the risk of complications later on.
Faster Isn’t Always Better
The use of automation in the mortgage industry is not new, but its growing role during times of high demand raises serious questions. For buyers relying on these approvals to make life-changing purchases, speed should not come at the expense of accuracy.
While banks try to stay afloat amid a flood of applications, the responsibility is increasingly shifting onto the buyer to verify their own financial readiness. A fast-tracked pre-approval might feel like progress, but without a deep review, it could lead to setbacks that delay—or derail—homeownership goals entirely.
