A Macquarie survey reveals borrowers are prioritising their borrowing capacity over headline interest rates amid rising costs and tighter serviceability assessments, prompting lenders to adapt their offerings.
Borrowers are increasingly judging home loans by how much they can actually secure, not just by the headline rate, according to Macquarie Equity Research’s 2026 Mortgage Broker Survey. The survey found the cheapest rate remained the top priority for 93% of brokers’ clients, but borrowing capacity has climbed into second place, overtaking speed to approval as a deciding factor.
That shift reflects the strain of higher rates, living costs and still-elevated home prices. Macquarie said those pressures are leaving many households constrained by serviceability, the test lenders use to decide whether someone can afford the debt. In Australia, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority requires authorised deposit-taking institutions to assess most home-loan applicants against a buffer of 3 percentage points above the loan rate, a rule that has been in place since October 2021 and remains one of the biggest brakes on borrowing power.
The impact is being felt most sharply by people trying to refinance. Macquarie said brokers are still hearing complaints about banks’ retention tactics and channel conflict, but this year many also pointed to the practical difficulty of moving loans in a high-serviceability environment. Some lenders, the survey suggested, are responding by easing credit settings at the margin, particularly for investors, and by making more discretionary or “common-sense” decisions to keep applications moving.
The survey also showed a reshuffle in lender competitiveness on pricing and offers. ANZ recorded the strongest improvement, rising sharply in brokers’ rankings after sharpening pricing on investor and interest-only lending and offering cashback deals on refinances. ME Bank also improved, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Bank of Queensland, AMP Bank and Bankwest were viewed as the least competitive on price. The broader message from the survey is that the home-loan market is no longer a simple race to the lowest rate: lenders that can combine sharper pricing with more generous borrowing capacity are increasingly the ones winning attention.
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