Brokers are reporting delays in turnaround times across the lending market, as home loan demand ramps up.
The time it takes for lenders to reach an initial credit decision has been expanding in recent weeks, with the latest Broker Pulse report from Agile Market Intelligence that found turnarounds are blowing out across the board.
According to the Broker Pulse survey for October 2025, which surveyed 316 residential brokers between 1 and 17 November 2025, nearly all parts of the lending market are experiencing delays in the time it takes for them to reach an initial credit decision.
The issues have been most prevalent in the mid-tier lenders, with small banks (those used by less than 20 per cent of brokers) seeing their average turnaround times increase to over a week. According to the Broker Pulse survey, smaller banks are now taking an average of 7.6 business days to reach an initial credit decision, up from 6.3 days in September and 5.5 days in August.
This is the longest time this segment has taken to reach an initial credit decision in over two years. It took this segment of the market an average of 8.3 days in May 2023.
Mutual banks were particularly struggling, with Broker Pulse showing that Newcastle Permanent’s turnarounds were at an average of 14 business days in October.
Non-bank lenders are also experiencing longer wait times, with brokers telling Broker Pulse that the non-banks are, on average, making brokers wait 6.3 days to reach an initial credit decision. This is up from 6.1 days in September and 5.2 days in August.
The last time non-banks took this long to reach an initial credit decision was more than three years ago, in September 2022, when brokers reported turnaround times of 6.7 days.
Firstmac was one of the non-banks called out by brokers as having delays, with its time to initial credit decision sitting around nine business days in October.
For the most commonly used banks – which include the big four banks plus the largest non-major banks – turnarounds increased from an average of 3.7 days in September to 4.6 days in October – the longest time since September 2023 (when it was 5.7 days).
Brokers suggested that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) was taking an average of seven business days to reach an initial credit decision in October, according to the Broker Pulse survey.
The expansion in wait times is particularly noteworthy given that the last time turnarounds were this long, interest rates were rising, rather than falling.
Comments from brokers responding to the monthly survey suggested that delays are being driven by long and inconsistent turnaround times (well beyond service-level agreements) and exacerbated by poor communication, limited access to assessors, and no clear escalation or tracking options.
“Current turnaround time needs to be improved ASAP, especially for pre-approvals,” one broker told Agile Market Intelligence’s Broker Pulse survey.
Another said that they had no communication at all while waiting for a loan approval, noting that the service-level agreement (SLA) was for four days, but expanded well beyond this.
Another said that one lender took two weeks to reach a decision, which “reduced the overall experience” for the client, while another said they waited seven weeks for a lender to issue conditions for a loan.
The issue seems to be impacting all segments of the market, from first home buyers to investors, with one broker telling Broker Pulse that turnarounds for expat lending were particularly “shocking”.
Speaking of the figures, Michael Johnson, director of Agile Market Intelligence, said: “What we’re seeing in the latest data isn’t just about turnaround times increasing – it’s about a fundamental breakdown in expectation management.
“Brokers can work with longer processing times if lenders are transparent and communicative about their SLAs.
“The real frustration comes when a lender promises a four-day turnaround but delivers in four weeks, or when SLAs ‘blow out at every stage’ without proactive communication.”
What’s causing the delay?
The blowouts come as home lending demand has surged, amid a confluence of demand-side influences.
Interest rates have fallen by 75 basis points this year, with expectations rising that Australia may be nearing the end of this easing cycle (and several banks suggesting there will be no more interest rate cuts this cycle). This may be bringing more people into market now, to take advantage of rates while they are still low.
The spring selling season has also kicked into effect, with house prices accelerating at the fastest pace in two years in October, amid strong demand and a shortfall in supply.
There have been record volumes of investor lending in the past few months and strong demand from first home buyers. At the beginning of October, the federal Home Guarantee Scheme (now called the 5% Deposit Scheme) expanded to lift placement caps and remove income caps – leading to a 48 per cent uptick in home guarantees being issued in October.
The surge in application volumes has already led some lenders, such as Beyond Bank, to temporarily pause pre-approvals. In a note to brokers this week, Beyond Bank said – effective immediately – it would not be accepting pre-approval applications (e.g. where a contract of sale has not been entered into) for all application types “for a temporary period“.
It told brokers this was due to “a recent surge in application volume, particularly for applications under the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme“.
Have you seen a blowout in turnaround times? Let us know in the comments below!
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