Mortgage pre-approvals stopped

Opes Mortgages says the BNZ, ANZ, Westpac and BNZ have turned off pre-approvals as it is taking some banks up to 20 days to approve a mortgage compared to five days normally.

What it means is unless a buyer has a live deal – the property is under contract – the banks won’t work on an approval.

Opes Mortgages managing director Peter Norris says the banks’ mortgage workloads have increased and one way to improve turnaround times is to stop pre-approvals and focus on live transactions – new purchases and refinances.

He says this happens more than bank customers think. “There are normally one or two banks which have switched off pre-approvals, but for all four to do it at the same time is rare. It’s a tool the banks often use when their mortgage approval turnaround times become stretched.”