Bridging Loans at CBA, Westpac, ANZ, NAB and St.George Compared (2026): What Each Bank Publishes, and What It Leaves Out

Bridging Loans at CBA, Westpac, ANZ, NAB and St.George Compared (2026): What Each Bank Publishes, and What It Leaves Out

Searchers type the bank they already bank with, “CBA bridging loan”, “Westpac bridging finance”, “ANZ bridging loan”, “NAB bridging loan”, “St George bridging loan”, and get that bank’s page, written to sell that bank’s product. This page puts the five side by side using only what each bank publishes on its own bridging page, read on 11 September 2026, so you can see the shape of the market before you assume your own bank is the answer. Where a bank does not publish a term, we say so rather than guess. Rates are deliberately left out: every bank prices bridging off a variable rate that changes, and the right number is the one on the bank’s rate page on the day, not one copied here.

The skeleton every bank shares

A bridging loan at any of the five banks is a short-term loan that lets you buy the next home before the current one has sold. During the bridging period you own both properties and owe the combined amount, called the peak debt; when the current home sells, the proceeds pay the bridging loan down and whatever remains, the end debt, continues as an ordinary home loan. Every bank on this page limits the bridging period to 12 months, treats the repayments during the bridge as interest only or capitalises the interest, and expects the sale of the current home to be the exit.

The published differences are in five places: the interest treatment, the rate the bridge is priced at, the maximum loan-to-value ratio, who is eligible (owner occupiers only, or investors too), and what can be added to the loan. Those five decide the cost of the bridge far more than the headline product name does.

CBA bridging loan

CommBank describes its bridging loan as a home loan that helps you buy a new property before selling your existing one, with a maximum loan term of 12 months. It is structured as a Standard Variable Rate home loan, so the bridging period carries the features of that product, including additional repayments and an interest only option. The minimum loan amount is $10,000 and the maximum is set by the security properties, your borrowing capacity and the loan-to-value ratio rather than by a published cap.

• Term: 12 months; the current property must sell within the term.
• Repayments during the bridge: interest only, with interest calculated daily and charged monthly, so a longer sale means a larger interest bill.
• Pricing: the standard variable rate; CBA does not publish a separate bridging rate.
• Notable: CBA’s bridging page also references an offer for new customers with a minimum post-bridging debt of $250,000, which is the clearest signal that the bank wants the end debt, not just the bridge.

Westpac bridging loan

Westpac’s bridging loan is available for owner occupier purposes only, for a period of 12 months, and is not available for investment property purchases, debt consolidation or lending originated under family or company trusts. There are no repayments during the bridging period; the interest charges are capitalised over the term of the loan, which keeps cash flow easy and makes the peak debt grow each month. Westpac also states that after the first three months the interest rate increases by 1.00 per cent, which is the single most expensive line on any of the five pages for anyone whose sale drags into the second half of the year.

• Term: 12 months; an extension “may be subject to credit criteria”.
• Repayments during the bridge: none required; interest capitalised.
• Pricing: owner occupier standard variable for interest only, plus 1.00 per cent after month three.
• Notable: upfront costs such as stamp duty and legal fees can be included in the bridging loan, subject to available equity; the end debt is repaid under a standard Westpac home loan.

ANZ bridging loan

ANZ publishes the cleanest numbers of the five. You may be able to borrow up to 80 per cent of the value of the new home as assessed by ANZ, the bridging period runs for up to 12 months from settlement of the new home, and repayments during the bridge are interest only at the ANZ Standard Variable rate. ANZ is also explicit that the term generally cannot be extended beyond the 12-month maximum, and that you must be able to service the ongoing loan plus the bridging loan, possibly holding savings to cover repayments during the bridge.

• Term: up to 12 months; generally no extension.
• Repayments during the bridge: interest only.
• LVR: up to 80 per cent of the new home’s value.
• Notable: servicing is assessed on both loans at once, so a borrower who can carry the peak debt on paper fits ANZ better than one relying entirely on the sale.

NAB bridging loan

NAB is the outlier: its public bridging page is a guide to deciding whether to buy or sell first rather than a product page with its own terms. It describes bridging loans in general as usually available for a set timeframe, often up to 12 months, with repayments commonly interest only while you own both properties, loan amounts typically capped at a percentage of the combined property value, often 80 per cent, and fees that may include application, ongoing facility and valuation fees on one or both properties. NAB’s worked example is the useful part: an $800,000 purchase with a $250,000 existing mortgage and a $600,000 expected sale gives a peak debt of $1,050,000 and an end debt of $450,000.

• Term: “often up to 12 months” (general guidance, not a published NAB term).
• Repayments during the bridge: “commonly interest only”.
• LVR: “often 80 per cent” of the combined value, as general guidance.
• Notable: the specific NAB terms are confirmed on application, which is exactly the situation a broker exists to shortcut.

St.George relocation loan

St.George, and the Bank of Melbourne and BankSA brands in the same group, call it a relocation loan. It is a short-term 12-month loan for an owner occupier buying a new home, or buying vacant land to build a new home with a building contractor, with no required repayments during the bridging period and the interest charges capitalised over the term. The rate is based on the loan-to-value ratio and the product is available up to 70 per cent LVR, for owner occupier purposes only, and not for investment purchases, debt consolidation or trust lending. Stamp duty and legal fees can be added if the equity in the current home is enough, there is no redraw, and a $350 fee is payable on payout or discharge.

• Term: 12 months; extension “may be subject to credit criteria”.
• Repayments during the bridge: none required; interest capitalised.
• LVR: up to 70 per cent, with the rate tiered by LVR.
• Notable: the group states that residential lending is not available to non-Australian-resident borrowers, which rules out an Australian living overseas bridging through St.George.

The lender we use most for bridging: Brighten Connect

The five bank pages above are what most people compare, and the bridging lender we use most often is on none of them. Brighten is a non-bank lender that writes bridging under the name Brighten Connect, and unlike the banks it publishes the full term sheet on its product page, read on 11 September 2026. We use it most because the terms are built for the files the banks turn away: owner occupied or investment purchases, a bridge with no end debt at all, and self-employed borrowers whose last tax return is out of date.

• Purpose. Owner occupied or investment property, a short term loan to buy the next property before the current one sells, or to release equity, with single or multiple securities and a choice of no end debt or end debt.
• Repayments during the bridge. None. Brighten retains an interest budget from the loan for the bridging period, and principal and interest repayments start on the end debt once the sale settles.
• Term. A bridging period of 6 to 12 months inside a total loan term of up to 30 years, so the end debt does not need a second application.
• Size and LVR. Loans from $250,000 to $15,000,000. The product summary gives a maximum of 80 per cent LVR on peak debt up to $5 million, with end debt up to 80 per cent; the FAQ on the same page puts peak debt above $2 million at 70 per cent, so treat the tier above $2 million as one to confirm on the day.
• Who qualifies. Prime borrowers, salaried or self-employed, on Full Doc or Alt Doc terms. With no end debt, Brighten asks for no income documents at all. With end debt, the documents follow the end debt product: two payslips and a three month bank statement for Full Doc, or one of an accountant’s letter on Brighten’s template, six months of BAS or three months of business bank statements for Alt Doc. Paid defaults up to $500 may be considered.
• Security. Houses, townhouses and apartments in category 1 and 2 postcodes, which Brighten describes as the capital cities and major regional centres, and medium sized regional centres.

Two things the page does not say. Fees sit on a rate card and a niche list that are downloads rather than page text, so we quote them from the current card on the day, and the page does not say whether the 12 month bridging period can be extended. Brighten publishes its bridging rate on the product page, which no bank on this page does; we leave the number out for the same reason we leave the banks’ numbers out, it changes, and the figure that matters is the one on the day your loan is priced. Brighten itself says 99 per cent of its business arrives through brokers, so this is a product you reach through a broker rather than a branch, which is the practical reason it sits on our desk and not on a comparison site.

The comparison table

Read from each lender’s own bridging page on 11 September 2026; the sources are linked at the end. Lenders change these terms without notice, and every application is assessed on its own facts.

Which bank suits which bridging file

• You want cash flow relief during the bridge. Westpac and the St.George group capitalise the interest, so there are no repayments until the sale. The price of that relief is a growing peak debt, and at Westpac a rate step-up after three months.
• You want the cheapest overall bridge and can afford repayments. CBA and ANZ run the bridge as interest only at the standard variable rate; paying the interest monthly stops it compounding into the end debt.
• Your end debt will be small or nil. Downsizers who will clear the loan on sale fit the capitalising products best, because the interest bill is settled from the sale proceeds and there is no end debt to carry the step-up. Our bridging loans for downsizers guide covers the maths. Brighten Connect goes further: with no end debt it asks for no income documents.
• You are self-employed and the tax returns are not ready. The banks assess bridging on full financials. Brighten Connect writes Alt Doc prime bridging on an accountant’s letter, six months of BAS or three months of business bank statements, with an active ABN of two years and GST registration of 12 months where turnover is above $75,000.
• You are buying an investment property before selling. Westpac and the St.George group exclude investment purchases; CBA and ANZ take it, and Brighten Connect is written for owner occupied or investment property from the start.
• You need more than 70 or 80 per cent of the new home. ANZ stops at 80 per cent and St.George at 70; the answer is either a larger deposit from the current home’s equity or a lender outside this page.
• You live overseas. St.George excludes non-Australian-resident borrowers; the other banks assess residency under their expat policies, which our bank-by-bank expat comparison sets out.

What a broker changes

Three things. First, the five banks are not the whole market; several lenders that write bridging do not publish terms at all, and a broker holds those policies alongside the published ones. Brighten is the exception that publishes everything and still only reaches you through a broker, which is why it is the bridging lender we use most. Second, the bank you already bank with is the one that knows your existing loan, which cuts paperwork but does not make it the best-priced bridge, and a bridge priced 1.00 per cent higher after month three on a $1,000,000 peak debt is real money. Third, the assessment is unusual: lenders size the bridge on the properties and the exit, not only on income, so the way the file is presented, with realistic sale evidence and a clear end debt, decides the approval. Our complete bridging loan guide explains peak debt, end debt and the calculator, and our bridging loan costs page itemises what the bridge actually costs.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Related guides

Important information