canstar
canstar

Home Loans Awards

Canstar releases its Home Loan Awards – highlighting the best mortgage products for Kiwi homeowners and property investors.
Home Loans Awards Banner

Home Loans Banks of the Year Awards

2026 Bank of the Year
award logo
Home Loans

When awarding BNZ its Bank of the Year Award, our research team noted that BNZ's result was underpinned by strong all-round performances across the owner-occupier and investment profiles, and its two Outstanding Value awards:

  • Outstanding Value Investment Home Lender
  • Outstanding Value Investment Fixed Home Loans

Our researchers were especially impressed by the ease of BNZ's mortgage application processes, and the extra repayment options offered.

The stand-out features of BNZ mortgages include:

  • Availability of principal-and-interest and interest-only home loans
  • Instant property valuations
  • Overseas income considered when assessing loan applications
  • BNZ's TotalMoney variable-rate home loan offers 100% offset with up to 50 linked accounts at no additional cost
2026 Bank of the Year
award logo
First Home Buyers

This year marks the fourth time SBS Bank has won Canstar's Bank of the Year First Home Buyers Award over the past five years and, again, the win is anchored by the lender's FirstHome Combo: a first home buyer-only package combining a discounted 12- or 24-month fixed rate with cashback, insurance and KiwiSaver incentives.

Our research team noted that SBS Bank's FirstHome Combo delivers standout total cost outcomes across one- and two-year fixed terms, which are the most popular fixed periods among New Zealand borrowers, and the most heavily weighted part of our assessment.

SBS Bank also participates in the Kāinga Ora First Home Loan scheme, which rounds out a result that reflects the bank's long-standing commitment to supporting first home buyers.

Outstanding Value Home Loans Awards

Our awards reveal the home loan providers and products that deliver the best value to Kiwi homeowners. Winners are listed alphabetically:

2026 Outstanding Value Home Loans
award logo
Investment LenderInvestment FixedResidential Fixed

ASB earns an Outstanding Value Investment Lender Award for the value it delivers across all its investment mortgage products.

ASB earns Outstanding Value Home Loan Awards across two of its mortgage products:

  • Investment Fixed
  • Residential Fixed

ASB's result was driven by strong product offerings across all fixed-rate profiles in both the residential and investment lending categories. ASB also received strong scores for self-service and support, discharge process, and application process, which contributed to its performance across all home loan award categories.

2026 Outstanding Value Home Loans
award logo
Investment LenderInvestment Fixed

BNZ earns an Outstanding Value Investment Lender Award for the value it delivers across all its investment mortgage products.

BNZ earns an Outstanding Value Home Loan Award for one of its mortgage products:

  • Investment Fixed


2026 Outstanding Value Home Loans
award logo
Investment FloatingLine of CreditResidential Floating

The Cooperative bank earns Outstanding Value Home Loan Awards across three of its mortgage products:

  • Investment Floating
  • Line of Credit
  • Residential Floating

Canstar's research team noted the bank's competitive variable rate during the assessment period, which was a key differentiator in determining the floating and line of credit award outcomes.


2026 Outstanding Value Home Loans
award logo
Residential LenderResidential Fixed

Westpac earns an Outstanding Value Residential Lender Award for the value it delivers across all its residential mortgage products.

Westpac earns an Outstanding Value Home Loan Award for one of its mortgage products:

  • Residential Fixed

In a market where the majority of providers were closely grouped on total cost across the one-year, 18-month, and two-year fixed profiles, Westpac's strong performance in the three-, four-, and five-year fixed profiles provided a meaningful point of differentiation. This longer-term fixed-rate competitiveness, combined with solid performance across the broader assessment criteria, contributed to Westpac's awards results.

Home Loans Awards Methodology

Microscope icon

What are Canstar’s Home Loan Awards?

To help Kiwi property buyers choose the right home loans, each year Canstar's expert research panel reviews all the main mortgage products in the market to discover those that deliver borrowers outstanding value.

The mortgage products are reviewed utilising a sophisticated and unique ratings methodology that compares both costs and features across mortgage products.

The best mortgage products win our Outstanding Value Home Loans Awards, while the mortgage lenders that offer the best value to borrowers across all their residential and investment lending earn our Outstanding Value Home Lender Awards.

And the best overall mortgage lender in the market earns our prestigious Bank of the Year Home Loans Award.

Star ratings icon

Which home loan providers do we survey for our ratings?

Our award research encompasses nine mortgage lenders: ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, SBS Bank, Sovereign*, The Co-operative Bank, TSB, Westpac.

Mortgages were rated across five different profiles:

  • Residential Fixed
  • Residential Floating
  • Line of Credit Residential
  • Investment Fixed
  • Investment Floating

*Note that Sovereign stopped new mortgage lending on 01/04/26, after the close of our research period.

Trophy icon

How do we determine the award winners?

Outstanding Value Home Loans and Lenders Awards

Each home loan reviewed was awarded points for the array of features it offers. However, when awarding our outstanding value awards, the most important factor considered by our research panel is a mortgage product's overall cost. 

Home Loans Bank of the Year Award

Our top home loans award is presented to the lender that delivers its customers the strongest combination of performance in the Outstanding Value Home Loans Awards, as well as customer satisfaction.

For this year's award our researchers factored in consumer satisfaction feedback from over 1500 homeowners, measured across seven key metrics: Application & Loan Settlement, Communication, Customer Service, Interest Rate, Loan Flexibility, Fees & Charges, and Value for Money.


Full methodology

Numbers Crunched

9Home loan providers assessed
52Mortgage products rated
4Outstanding Value Award winners
1Home Loans Bank of the Year winner

Most Satisfied Customers Home Loans Award

Canstar's Most Satisfied Customers Home Loans Award is based on feedback from Kiwi property owners who have mortgages.

2026 Most Satisfied Customers Award
award logo
Home Loans

The BNZ is the winner of our latest Most Satisfied Customers Home Loans Award thanks to great feedback from its customers.

The bank earned great reviews across all our award categories, and perfect scores for Fees & Charges, Interest Rate and Loan Flexibility.



Most Satisfied Customers Home Loans Award Methodology

Microscope icon

What is Canstar's Most Satisfied Customers Home Loans Award?

The Most Satisfied Customers Home Loans Award recognises the mortgage provider that offers the best levels of consumer satisfaction to its home loan customers. The award is based on consumer feedback from Kiwi homeowners across the country.

For this year's award, we asked 1383 New Zealanders with home loans to rate their mortgage providers.

Star ratings icon

Which home loan providers did we survey for our ratings?

Five mortgage lenders met the criteria for our award: ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank and Westpac.

Grid icon

What categories were rated for the award?

Borrowers rated their lenders across the following categories:

  • Application & Loan Settlement
  • Communication
  • Customer Service
  • Fees & Charges
  • Interest Rate
  • Loan Flexibility
  • Value for Money

Numbers Crunched

1383Borrowers surveyed
7 Ratings categories
5Lenders assessed
1Award winner

About Canstar's Home Loans Awards

Canstar's home loan awards and expert ratings reveal the mortgage providers that offer the best products and services designed to meet the needs of Kiwi home owners.

Find the best mortgage at the lowest rates

Compare home loans to discover the best mortgage for your home-ownership needs.

Compare Home Loans

FAQs about Canstar's home loan awards

Joshua Sale's profile picture
Joshua SaleGroup Manager - Research & Ratings

As Canstar's Group Manager, Research & Ratings, Josh Sale is responsible for the methodology behind Canstar's diverse suite of Star Ratings and Awards and leads the teams that deliver them. With a background in economics and finance and a Master's in data science, Josh has spent the past ten years building ratings that help connect consumers with the right product for them.
Josh is passionate about helping consumers get hands-on with their finances. Josh has been interviewed by media outlets such as the Australian Financial Review, news.com.au and Money Magazine.
You can follow Josh on LinkedIn, and Canstar on X and Facebook.


Bruce Pitchers's profile picture
Bruce PitchersNZ Editor

Bruce Pitchers is Canstar's NZ Editor. An experienced finance reporter, he has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in Australia, the UK and NZ, including ACP, Are Media, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. As a freelancer, he has worked for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority and major banks and investment companies on both sides of the Tasman.
In his role at Canstar, he has been a regular commentator in the NZ media, including on the Driven, Stuff and One Roof websites, the NZ Herald, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from Canstar, Bruce creates puzzles for magazines including Woman’s Day and New Idea. He is also the co-author of the murder-mystery puzzle book 5 Minute Murder.


Important Information

For those that love the detail