Nearly 4 in 10 Investors Feel Shut Out by the Major Banks

New research finds 38% of Australian property investors felt the banks made investment lending too difficult, while 42% are open to non-bank options.

The scale of the friction

A major new consumer report has found that nearly four in 10 Australian property investors feel traditional banks make investment lending too difficult — and a meaningful share have walked away from their mortgage plans entirely because of it.

The Consumer Pulse Spotlight: Property Investors report, produced by Agile Market Intelligence and sponsored by Bluestone Home Loans, surveyed 18,000 Australians including 1,574 property investors. Responses were collected in March 2026, before the government's budget tax reforms for property investors were announced — which makes some of these findings even more significant given what has since changed in the policy environment.

The headline numbers are clear. Of the investor borrowers surveyed, 38 per cent said they believed traditional banks made investment lending too difficult. Of that group, 8 per cent said they abandoned their mortgage plans entirely — not because their finances didn't stack up, but because the process itself was too difficult or too discouraging to navigate.

As Michael Johnson, director of Agile Market Intelligence, put it: "The findings paint a picture of a motivated, financially capable segment that is actively looking to grow, but often finding traditional lenders unwilling or unable to help."

Self-employed investors face the sharpest friction

One reason the friction is disproportionate relates to income structure. Bluestone Home Loans noted in the report that property investors are almost twice as likely to be self-employed as the general population.

That matters enormously in mortgage lending. Standard loan applications are built around PAYG income, consistent payslips, and straightforward tax returns. Investors with contract income, business structures, trust distributions, or variable earnings often find that their financial position looks more complicated on paper than it is in practice.

"In our experience, this reflects a group with strong earning potential, but income that doesn't always fit standard verification models. For brokers, this is often where lender choice matters most," Bluestone said in the report.

This is a pattern that many borrowers experience on the ground. Where a traditional lender sees complexity as risk, a specialist lender is often better equipped to assess actual capacity. For borrowers in this position, [comparing investor home loan options](/home-loans/investor) across a broader lender panel — including non-banks — can reveal significantly more flexibility than a single major bank conversation would suggest.

The awareness gap around alternative lenders

The survey also revealed a substantial knowledge gap between general Australians and property investors when it comes to non-bank lending.

Among the general public, nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) were either unaware that non-bank lenders offered investment loans, or did not know enough to consider them. Among property investors, that figure dropped to 39 per cent — still significant, but a material improvement.

More importantly, more than two-fifths of investors (42 per cent) said they were open or very open to exploring lending options outside a traditional bank for their investment needs. That is a substantial pool of capable borrowers who, given the right guidance, would consider a wider market.

Tony MacRae, chief commercial officer at Bluestone Home Loans, was direct: "Nearly four in 10 have felt the banks made it too difficult. More than four in 10 are open to alternative lenders. Those numbers reflect conversations we're seeing every day across our broker network."

Understanding your [borrowing power](/calculators/borrowing-power) across different lender types is a practical starting point for investors who have hit friction with the majors.

What investors actually look like as borrowers

Despite the difficulties with lending, investors in this survey were significantly more engaged with professional advice than the general population. Nearly six in 10 investors (approximately 60 per cent) used at least one professional adviser, compared to around one-third of all Australians.

Accountants topped the list at 46 per cent, followed by financial advisers at 23 per cent, and mortgage brokers at 21 per cent. That broker engagement rate is substantially higher than the general population — and it is likely to grow. One-third of property investors surveyed said they planned to purchase in the next 12 months.

The 66.8 per cent of investors who reported feeling financially secure reinforces that this is not a struggling segment. These are organised, forward-planning people who are running into system-level friction, not personal financial inadequacy. The challenge is access — to the right lender, with the right product for their income profile.

Practical steps if the banks have said no

If you have been told your income structure or investment profile does not fit a traditional lender's criteria, it is worth exploring further before assuming you cannot borrow.

A few steps that are genuinely worth taking:

- **Run the numbers first.** Our [borrowing power calculator](/calculators/borrowing-power) gives you a baseline before you approach any lender. Going in with clear numbers makes every subsequent conversation more productive. - **Broaden the lender comparison.** Non-bank lenders often assess income differently, particularly for self-employed borrowers, those with rental income, or investors using trust structures. Checking across a wider panel can surface options a single bank visit would miss. - **Ask how serviceability is calculated.** Different lenders apply different expense assumptions and income shading. The same borrower can get meaningfully different outcomes depending on which institution they approach and how their income is presented.

The data from Agile Market Intelligence and Bluestone, published by The Adviser, [reinforces what many in the market already see](https://www.theadviser.com.au/growth/48578-21-of-property-investors-using-brokers): the major banks are not the only option for property investors, and for those with complex income profiles, they may not be the right fit.