Home Loan Pre-Approval • House Hunting • Buying Property

Your Home Loan Pre-Approval Has an Expiry Date — Here's What Can Change Before You Buy

Getting home loan pre-approval can make the property search much easier. You have an indication of what a lender may be prepared to lend and a clearer price range to work within.

But pre-approval is not permanent.

Many Australian home loan pre-approvals are valid for around 90 days, although the exact period depends on the lender. If months pass before you find the right property, your finances — and the lender's assessment — may need to be looked at again.

Common validity period~90 days

Pre-approvalConditional

Final propertyStill assessed

Changed financesTell lender

Pre-approval is useful — but it is not unconditional loan approval

Review My Pre-Approval

The quick answer

How long does a home loan pre-approval last?

A home loan pre-approval will commonly remain valid for around three months, or approximately 90 days.

That is not a universal rule. Each lender sets its own pre-approval period, conditions and renewal process.

For example, both ANZ and Westpac currently describe their home loan pre-approval or conditional approval periods as generally around three months, subject to the lender's conditions and the borrower's circumstances remaining acceptable.

Think of pre-approval as a snapshot of your lending position at a particular point in time — not a permanent promise to lend that amount forever.

Why it expires

A lot can change in three months

When a lender provides pre-approval, it is assessing information available at that time.

Your income, expenses, existing debts, credit limits, savings and other financial commitments form part of that picture.

The lender's own interest rates, serviceability settings and credit policies can also change while you are looking for a property.

Your finances can change New debts, reduced savings, changed employment or higher expenses can alter the position originally assessed.

Rates can move A different home loan rate can affect both repayments and the lender's serviceability calculation.

Lender policy can change Lending policies, assessment methods and acceptable loan parameters are not frozen when your pre-approval is issued.

The property still matters The lender normally still needs to be satisfied with the actual property being purchased.

What can change

Six things that can affect an existing pre-approval

The fact that a pre-approval is still inside its expiry date does not mean you should ignore meaningful changes to your financial position.

1. Your income A change of employer, reduced hours, probationary employment, parental leave or a change in variable income may need to be reassessed.

2. New debts Taking out a car loan, personal loan, credit card or buy-now-pay-later facility can affect borrowing capacity.

3. Credit-card limits Even where the balance is low, an increased credit limit may change the lender's assessment of your commitments.

4. Living expenses Childcare, rent, insurance, school costs or other ongoing household expenses may alter serviceability.

5. Your deposit Savings used for another purpose can change your contribution, loan amount and loan-to-value ratio.

6. Interest rates If rates move, the lender may assess the proposed loan using different repayment assumptions.

If something material has changed since the original application, do not wait until you have signed a contract to find out whether it matters.

A common mistake

Pre-approved for $800,000 does not mean you have an $800,000 blank cheque

This is probably the most important distinction.

A pre-approval generally relates to the borrower and the proposed lending scenario based on information available at the time.

It does not necessarily mean the lender has approved every possible property you could choose to buy.

The lender may still consider matters such as:

the property's valuation;
property type;
location;
title;
size;
condition;
loan-to-value ratio; and
whether the property is acceptable security under that lender's policy.

Pre-approved borrower + unacceptable property does not automatically equal an approved home loan.

We will dig much further into that distinction in a separate Loan Location guide because it deserves its own discussion.

Expiry approaching

What happens if you still haven't found a property?

Nothing unusual. Plenty of buyers take longer than three months to find the right home.

Depending on the lender, the existing pre-approval may be able to be extended, renewed or replaced with a new assessment.

The lender may ask for updated documents or confirmation that your circumstances have not materially changed.

Still looking? Check the expiry date before it arrives rather than after you find the perfect property.

Nothing has changed? The reassessment may be relatively straightforward, depending on lender policy.

Your situation changed? Your borrowing position may need to be recalculated using current information.

Rates changed? The maximum loan previously indicated may no longer produce exactly the same result.

Do not leave it too late

The worst time to discover your pre-approval has changed is after signing a contract

Property searches have a nasty habit of going from quiet to frantic very quickly.

You can spend months looking at homes that are not quite right and then suddenly find one on Saturday that you want to offer on immediately.

That is not the ideal moment to discover your pre-approval expired three weeks ago.

If your pre-approval is nearing expiry and you are actively looking, review it before making the next serious offer.

This is particularly important where there has been a change to your employment, debt, deposit, household expenses or the price range you are considering.

Market movements

What if property prices or interest rates changed while you were looking?

Your pre-approval does not exist in isolation from the property market or lending market.

A lower property price might improve the deposit or loan-to-value-ratio side of the transaction, while higher interest rates may reduce borrowing capacity.

The reverse can also happen.

This is why the price you were comfortable targeting at the beginning of the search should occasionally be checked against your current lending position.

We recently looked at this interaction in more detail in our guide: Are Falling House Prices Creating Australia's Best First-Home Buyer Opportunity?

Buying your next home

Pre-approval is useful even if you've owned property before

Pre-approval is not only for first-home buyers.

If you are upgrading, downsizing, returning to home ownership or buying again after renting, your financial position may look very different from the last time you applied for a mortgage.

Income changes, existing property equity, new debts, dependants and lender policy can all change the amount available.

Our Buying Your Next Home guide looks at the wider finance decisions involved when you have owned property before.

Borrowing power

Why your new pre-approval may not produce exactly the same number

Borrowers sometimes assume that renewing a pre-approval simply involves changing the date on the letter.

It may not.

Lenders assess whether the proposed loan appears affordable using their current servicing rules.

Changes to interest rates, income, debts, living expenses or credit limits can therefore produce a different maximum borrowing figure even though the borrower feels their overall situation has barely changed.

A previous borrowing limit is useful history. It is not a guarantee of the next assessment.

Should you apply everywhere?

More pre-approvals are not necessarily better

If one pre-approval is approaching expiry, the answer is not automatically to submit applications to several lenders at once.

A formal credit application may leave an enquiry on your credit file.

Multiple unnecessary applications can therefore create noise on a credit report without necessarily improving your position.

A better starting point is usually to understand whether the existing lender remains suitable and whether there is a genuine reason to consider a different lender.

Pre-approval getting close to its expiry date?

We can review what has changed, check your current buying range and work out whether the existing approval should be renewed or whether another lender is genuinely worth considering.

Review My Pre-Approval

Before you make an offer

A quick pre-approval health check

If you are actively house hunting, these are worth checking before the next serious offer:

Check the expiry date Know exactly when the lender's existing pre-approval ends.

Check your current price range Make sure the amount you are targeting still fits the lending position.

Tell your broker what changed New job, new debt, new credit limit, reduced savings or changed household costs can all be relevant.

Keep documents current Updated payslips, statements or other supporting information may be required.

Do not assume every property works The chosen security normally remains subject to lender assessment.

Ask before signing If you are uncertain about the finance position, clarify it before committing where possible.

The bottom line

Pre-approval gives you a starting position — keep it current

Home loan pre-approval can be extremely useful when you are searching for property.

It gives you a clearer idea of what may be possible and can identify lending issues before you become attached to a particular home.

But it is conditional, time-limited and based on a financial position that can change.

If your property search has stretched beyond a few months, checking that your pre-approval still reflects today's numbers is usually far easier than discovering a problem after you have found the property.

If you are still working out which lending path fits your situation, you can also explore our mortgage and finance services .

Sources and further reading: ANZ — Home loan pre-approval; Westpac — Home loan pre-approval.

Home Loan Pre-Approval

Still house hunting? Make sure the finance hasn't gone stale.

Loan Location can review your current position, check what has changed since the original assessment and help keep your finance aligned with the property you are actually looking to buy.

The goal is simple: know where you stand before the right property appears.

Book a Broker

Important information: This article contains general information only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Pre-approval periods, lender policies, interest rates, assessment methods and documentation requirements can change and vary between lenders. Pre-approval or conditional approval is not a guarantee of unconditional loan approval. Final approval remains subject to lender assessment, acceptable security, valuation, verification of information, terms, conditions, fees and eligibility criteria.