It's always imperative to compare home loan lenders and mortgage products. Whether you're a first home buyer, a property investor, or a homeowner looking to refinance, you can potentially save thousands of dollars in fees and interest charges by securing the best value mortgage product for your home-buying needs.
To help Kiwi property purchasers 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 consumers Outstanding Value, and to reward the best lender with our prestigious Bank of the Year Home Loans Award.
Bank of the Year Home Loans: BNZ
Congratulations to BNZ, the winner of Canstar's Bank of the Year Home Loans Award 2026. The award recognises that BNZ delivers mortgage products that combine the best features with the lowest costs, plus provides great customer service at every stage of the mortgage journey.
This year, BNZ receives three Canstar Home Loan awards:
- Bank of the Year Home Loans
- Outstanding Value Investment Home Lender
- Outstanding Value Investment Fixed 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.
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
Note that BNZ is also the winner of Canstar's 2026 Most Satisfied Customers Home Loans Award, which is based on feedback from 1383 Kiwi mortgage holders.
Canstar's Outstanding Value Home Loans
For this year's awards, our researchers assessed 52 mortgage products from the following nine lenders:
- ANZ
- ASB
- BNZ
- Kiwibank
- SBS Bank
- Sovereign*
- The Co-operative Bank
- TSB
- Westpac
*Note that Sovereign stopped new mortgage lending on 01/04/26, after the close of our research period.
Mortgages were rated across five different profiles:
- Residential Fixed
- Residential Floating
- Line of Credit Residential
- Investment Fixed
- Investment Floating
Each home loan reviewed was awarded points for the array of features it offers. However the most important factor considered by our research panel was the mortgage product's overall cost. The top-rated mortgage providers in each profile are the winners of our Outstanding Value Home Loan Awards:
Outstanding Value Residential Home Loans
Below are the 2026 winners of Canstar's Outstanding Value residential home loan awards:
Outstanding Value Residential Fixed
- ASB
- Westpac
Outstanding Value Residential Floating
- The Co-operative Bank
Outstanding Value Residential Line of Credit
- The Co-operative Bank
Outstanding Value Investment Home Loans
Below are the 2026 winners of Canstar's Outstanding Value investment home loan awards:
Investment Fixed
- ASB
- BNZ
Investment Floating
- The Co-operative Bank
Outstanding Value Home Lenders Awards
Our research team also rewards the mortgage providers that offer overall value to borrowers across residential and investment lending. This year, three lenders earn our Outstanding Value Home Lenders Awards across residential and investment lending:
Outstanding Value Residential Lender
- Westpac
Outstanding Value Investment Lenders
- ASB
- BNZ
