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Find 40-year home loans from Australian lenders that may suit your needs, whether you're investing or looking to buy your first home. Compare interest rates, mortgage repayments, fees and more.

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Mark Bristow

Updated on

13 Oct, 2024

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Can you get a 40-year mortgage?

A home loan is a long-term commitment, most often paid off over the course of decades. Most mortgages in Australia have a loan term of between 20 and 30 years, though it may be possible to choose a home loan with an even longer term of up to 40 years, which could have benefits and drawbacks.

How does your loan term affect your mortgage?

When you apply for a home loan, you borrow money to buy a property, which you agree to repay plus interest in instalments over a set length of time – the loan term.

Shorter loan term (20 years, for example) means your loan balance – the mortgage principal – will be repaid in a smaller number of repayments. While these repayments may cost more than those of a home loan with a longer term, paying off your property sooner means you may pay less in total interest charges on the property.

Longer loan terms work the same way, but in reverse. By repaying your mortgage principal in a larger number of smaller repayments, you can pay less on your home loan from month to month, giving your household budget some extra breathing room. However, because it will take longer to repay your loan, you’ll likely pay more in total interest on your property.

For example, here’s how the monthly principal and interest repayments on a $400,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 4% or 5%, paid over a term of 30 or 40 years would add up:

$400,000 home loan (paying principal and interest)	Interest rate 4%	Interest rate 5%
Monthly repayments — 30 years	$1,910	$2,147
Monthly repayments — 40 years	$1,672	$1,929
Difference	-$238	-$219
Total repayments — 30 years	$687,478	$773,021
Total repayments — 40 years	$802,440	$925,814
Difference	+$114,962	+$152,793

Source: RateCity. Calculations are estimates for illustrative purposes only, and do not account for fees, charges, or interest rate changes over time.

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Can you get a 40-year fixed loan?

In Australia, most fixed home loans only last for a maximum of 5 years before reverting to a variable interest rate. This means that while you may be able to keep your repayments consistent for a limited time, eventually you’ll be switched onto your mortgage lender’s variable rate.

In some cases, it may be possible to re-fix your loan with the same lender and extend the length of your mortgage’s fixed-rate term. You may also be able to refinance your loan with another lender that also offers fixed interest rates. The cost and availability of these options may depend on the lender as well as your financial situation.

Another option to consider could be opting for a split rate home loan, where a portion of your mortgage principal is charged interest at a fixed rate and the other part at a variable rate, allowing you to benefit from both stability and flexibility. However, the fixed rate will still eventually revert to a variable rate over time, which may not be the same as the rate being charged on the other part of your loan – you could find yourself paying interest at two different variable rates!

What’s the maximum age you can get a 40-year home loan?

While there are no hard and fast maximum age limits on home loans, older Australians may find it harder to be approved for a mortgage with longer loan terms. Generally, the older you are, the harder it may be to get a mortgage application approved.

This is because the further a mortgage’s loan term pushes into the borrower’s potential retirement age bracket, the higher the risk that the borrower may stop working and no longer be able to afford the loan repayments, or even pass away.

Once you pass the age of 35, a lender may start to consider your profession and retirement age when assessing your home loan application more carefully. Different lenders may have different policies on the maximum age they’ll accept for customers seeking long home loan terms. Your chance of approval may vary based on your personal and financial situation.

How can you get a 40-year home loan?

40-year home loans are some of the longest loan terms in Australia, and aren’t as commonly available as shorter mortgage offers. You may find that there are a smaller number of lenders offering 40-year mortgages, so you may have fewer options to compare.

A mortgage broker may be able to help you find a home loan that suits your personal financial situation. They can help you crunch the numbers for a 40-year home loan and find a lender that can provide a mortgage that best matches your current needs and future goals.

Mark Bristow

Personal Finance Editor

Mark Bristow is RateCity's Home & Personal Finances Editor, and an experienced analyst, researcher, and producer. While primarily focused on Australian mortgage and home loan expertise, he has experience across energy, home and travel insurances. Mark has been a journalist and writer in the financial space for over ten years, previously researching and writing commercial real estate at CoreLogic. In the years since, Mark has worked for the Winning Group, Expedia, and has seen articles published at Lifehacker and Business Insider.

This article was reviewed by Personal Finance Editor Peter Terlato before it was published as part of RateCity's Fact Check process.

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^Words such as "top", "best", "cheapest" or "lowest" are not a recommendation or rating of products. This page compares a range of products from selected providers and not all products or providers are included in the comparison. There is no such thing as a 'one- size-fits-all' financial product. The best loan, credit card, superannuation account or bank account for you might not be the best choice for someone else. Before selecting any financial product you should read the fine print carefully, including the product disclosure statement, target market determination fact sheet or terms and conditions document and obtain professional financial advice on whether a product is right for you and your finances.

How can you get a 40-year home loan?

Compare 40 year mortgages

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Providers we compare

On this page

Can you get a 40-year mortgage?

How does your loan term affect your mortgage?

$400,000 home loan (paying principal and interest)

Interest rate 4%

Interest rate 5%

Calculate your mortgage repayments

Repayment Calculator

What’s the maximum age you can get a 40-year home loan?

How can you get a 40-year home loan?

Frequently Asked Questions

Share this page

Latest home loans articles

Asking for a rate cut: how to negotiate a better home loan rate

How long does a guarantor stay on a mortgage?

What is lending criteria? The factors that may impact eligibility criteria

The pros and cons of paying off your mortgage early vs buying an investment property

What do house valuers look for?

Did you find this page helpful?

On this page

Can you get a 40-year mortgage?

How does your loan term affect your mortgage?

$400,000 home loan (paying principal and interest)

Interest rate 4%

Interest rate 5%

Calculate your mortgage repayments

Repayment Calculator

What’s the maximum age you can get a 40-year home loan?

How can you get a 40-year home loan?

Frequently Asked Questions

Share this page

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