Published: 5 December 2025
Western Australia has suddenly moved to the centre of Australia’s housing and mortgage story. On the same day that non‑bank lender Pallas Capital confirmed a major push into Perth and Commonwealth Bank’s Ellie Everington stepped into the spotlight as WA state sales manager, policymakers and lenders are grappling with the fallout from the federal 5% First Home Buyer Deposit Scheme — including longer mortgage pre‑approval times and new tensions around broker access.
Taken together, these developments show how policy, pricing and people are reshaping the way West Australians — and first‑home buyers nationally — access finance in a tightening housing market.
Pallas Capital bets big on Perth as non‑bank lending surges
Boutique non‑bank lender Pallas Capital has opened its first Perth office, marking a significant westward expansion for the Sydney‑headquartered commercial real estate financier.Australian Broker News+1
The new office adds to the firm’s footprint in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, as well as Auckland and Christchurch, and comes after a year of rapid growth in non‑bank activity and record levels of bank commercial real estate debt across Australia. As at June 2025, bank commercial property lending reached about $415.7 billion, up nearly 10% year‑on‑year, underlining both the scale of the market and the space for alternative lenders.Australian Broker News
To anchor its Perth presence, Pallas has recruited two senior Commonwealth Bank alumni:
- Phil Anderton, now director, origination WA
- Michael Glen, associate director, origination WA
Both executives bring long experience in property finance and deep local relationships, particularly across mid‑market commercial real estate. They report to group executive, originations Jason Arnold, and will focus on brokers, investors and developers across Western Australia.Australian Broker News
Pallas’s confidence in WA isn’t theoretical. The lender recently refinanced Westend on Murray — a seven‑storey A‑grade office building in Perth’s CBD — with a $23.7 million facility via its Pallas Funding Trust No. 5 (PFT5).Australian Broker News In August, PFT5 raised $500 million with backing from Morgan Stanley, and Pallas says it has now settled nearly $3 billion in transactions in FY2025 and about $8.6 billion since launching in 2016.Australian Broker News
For WA brokers, developers and investors, the new Perth office signals:
- More choice in construction and commercial funding, including land acquisition, pre‑development and residual stock solutions
- Greater competition with the majors, particularly for projects that require speed or more flexible structures
- A stronger non‑bank presence in a market where eastern‑states lenders have historically dominatedAustralian Broker News
It also comes as Perth edges closer to a million‑dollar median house price, according to Domain forecasts — a symbolic threshold that would put it alongside Brisbane and Adelaide as part of a new tier of high‑priced capitals.Mortgage Professional Australia
CBA’s Ellie Everington: the broker‑channel face of WA
While Pallas builds out its Perth origination team, Commonwealth Bank’s broker channel has its own WA front‑person in the spotlight.
Mortgage Professional Australia’s latest Sales Manager in the Spotlight profile features Ellie Everington, CBA’s Western Australia state sales manager, a 12‑year finance veteran based in Perth.Mortgage Professional Australia+1
Everington’s role is to lead the bank’s broker‑facing sales team across WA, ensuring that mortgage brokers have the support they need to navigate a more complex lending environment. She summed up her mission simply: her goal is to make sure brokers have the resources, tools and support required to deliver exceptional service to their clients.Mortgage Professional Australia+1
The profile is part of a wider effort to highlight the influence of business development managers and state sales leaders inside major lenders — people who sit at the junction of policy, credit appetite and front‑line broker relationships. At a time when:
- incentives like the 5% First Home Buyer Deposit Scheme are flooding lenders with applications
- pre‑approval times are stretching
- and new programs like Help to Buy are launching with complex eligibility rules
the broker relationship with big banks’ state sales teams will likely be critical to keeping deals moving.
That dynamic is especially important in WA, where brokers must now balance growing non‑bank options, like Pallas’s Perth office, against the firepower and product set of major banks such as CBA.
How the 5% First Home Buyer Deposit Scheme is reshaping demand
Much of the current friction in the mortgage system can be traced back to one policy: the expanded 5% First Home Buyer Deposit Scheme, a revamped version of the federal Home Guarantee Scheme.
From 1 October 2025, the scheme was significantly liberalised. Industry breakdowns say the expansion allows eligible first‑home buyers to:Cashflow Financial+1
- Purchase a property with a 5% deposit
- Avoid lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), as the government guarantees up to 15% of the loan
- Access the scheme without previous income caps, property price caps or quota limits, which have been removed or lifted under the new rules
With price caps aligned to most city and regional markets — and higher thresholds in Sydney and parts of NSW — the policy effectively enables buyers with modest savings to jump into more expensive properties than before.Australian Broker News+1
The impact has been immediate. Equifax data cited by Australian Broker shows:Australian Broker News
- Overall first‑home buyer activity up 14% year‑on‑year in October
- A huge 70% jump in loans sized between $750,000 and $1 million among first‑home buyers
- Roughly one in ten homes sold in October backed by a government guarantee
This surge in demand lands on top of an already tight market. Domain analysis quoted by MPA notes that:Mortgage Professional Australia
- Investor lending has risen by more than 20% in the first half of 2025, pushing investors’ share of new housing finance above 40%
- Adelaide has joined the million‑dollar median house club, Brisbane is now the second‑most‑expensive capital on this measure, and Perth is expected to reach a $1 million median by Christmas
For many first‑home buyers, the policy has created a narrow window where their borrowing power, a low‑deposit pathway and government guarantees line up — but they still have to compete with cashed‑up investors and move quickly in a market starved of stock.
The downside: blown‑out pre‑approval times and temporary pauses
The flood of applications hasn’t come without consequences.
The Australian Financial Review has reported that the expanded First Home Buyer Deposit Scheme is pushing out mortgage pre‑approval times as lenders struggle to process the volume of new applications layered on top of regular demand and refinancing activity.Australian Financial Review+1
Separate coverage on News.com.au notes that:News.com.au
- Beyond Bank has temporarily paused pre‑approval applications for borrowers who have not yet signed a contract, citing the surge in demand from buyers using the 5% deposit scheme
- Other lenders have lengthened their turnaround times noticeably, even if they have not formally paused applications
- Some smaller players are still turning around pre‑approvals relatively quickly, creating opportunities for brokers willing to look beyond the major brands
Social posts referencing AFR coverage also suggest that Commonwealth Bank has rostered extra staff on weekends to help work through the backlog of pre‑approval requests.threads.com
The net effect is a more fragile pipeline:
- Pre‑approval letters are taking longer, increasing the risk that buyers miss out at auction or lose a private‑treaty negotiation
- Clients relying on the scheme may face high emotional stakes, having already stretched to meet rising prices
- Brokers are having to manage expectations carefully, steer some borrowers to alternate lenders, and ensure documentation is flawless to avoid further delays
In Western Australia, where prices are climbing and auction volumes are still rising even as they ease in most other capitals, the timing pressure is particularly acute. Recent figures show Perth is the only smaller capital where auction volumes are increasing, with more homes scheduled under the hammer this week even as activity in Sydney and Melbourne begins to taper.Mortgage Professional Australia
Help to Buy launches — without full broker access
Adding another layer to the policy mix, Help to Buy, the federal shared‑equity scheme championed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, formally launches today for low‑ and middle‑income buyers in most states.Mortgage Professional Australia+1
Under the program:
- Eligible buyers can purchase with as little as a 2% deposit
- The Commonwealth takes an equity stake of up to 40% of the price of new homes or 30% for existing dwellings
- Participants avoid LMI and can gradually buy back the government’s share over time
- Only 10,000 places are available each year, and the scheme is not yet operating in Western Australia or TasmaniaMortgage Professional Australia
Canstar modelling cited by MPA shows how powerful the lever can be. A borrower earning $90,000 and taking a 30‑year loan at 5.64% with CBA could borrow roughly the same amount with or without the scheme, but Help to Buy’s equity contribution allows them to target a much higher property price by reducing the amount they need to fund through debt.Mortgage Professional Australia
However, there are important constraints:
- The government shares in capital gains (and losses) when the property is sold
- The scheme is restricted to owner‑occupiers, and moving out may trigger a sale or a requirement to buy back the government’s share
- Only Commonwealth Bank and Bank Australia are participating at launch, limiting product choice
- If incomes rise above the relevant caps for two consecutive years, borrowers may be required to buy back some of the government’s stakeMortgage Professional Australia
And there is a sharp point of contention for brokers. An Australian Broker investigation this week revealed that CBA will not offer Help to Buy loans via the broker channel at launch, despite being one of only two participating lenders. Instead, applicants must go direct to the bank.Australian Broker News
Industry bodies have reacted strongly:
- The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) argues that shared‑equity schemes are complex and borrowers need impartial guidance that brokers are best placed to deliver.Australian Broker News
- The Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) has accused CBA of turning a taxpayer‑funded national scheme into a “proprietary marketing tool” by excluding broker‑introduced customers.Australian Broker News
The episode highlights a tension at the heart of today’s news flow. On one hand, CBA’s Ellie Everington is publicly positioning her WA team as champions for brokers. On the other, the bank’s decision to keep Help to Buy initially off‑limits to brokers has reinforced concerns about major lenders leaning more heavily on direct distribution for new flagship products.
Rates on hold, affordability still under pressure
All of this is playing out against a macro backdrop that offers little relief on affordability.
New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show household spending rose 1.3% in October, the strongest monthly increase since early 2024 and around twice what some economists expected. Spending is now 5.6% higher than a year ago, with both discretionary goods and services performing strongly.Mortgage Professional Australia
MPA reports that the data, combined with a recent upside surprise in inflation, have led economists to conclude that the Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to keep the cash rate on hold for an extended period, despite three cuts earlier in 2025.Mortgage Professional Australia
Domain’s research team, meanwhile, warns that:Mortgage Professional Australia
- Rate cuts delivered this year have largely been capitalised into higher property prices, eroding much of the benefit to borrowing capacity
- Strong population growth, low vacancy rates and high construction costs will likely keep price pressures elevated into 2026
For brokers and borrowers, that means policy levers such as the 5% deposit scheme and Help to Buy are arriving in a market where structural affordability issues remain unresolved.
What it all means for WA brokers and first‑home buyers
On 5 December 2025, the WA and national mortgage landscape looks something like this:
- Demand is surging, especially from first‑home buyers using the 5% deposit scheme to chase higher‑value properties
- Non‑banks like Pallas Capital are expanding into Perth to meet appetite for commercial and development finance
- Major banks are under operational strain, with pre‑approval times blowing out and some lenders pausing certain applications
- New schemes like Help to Buy are launching, but access is constrained by limited places, geographic gaps and partial broker exclusion
- Rate relief is unlikely in the near term, even as inflation and price growth remain elevated
For practitioners on the ground, several practical themes are emerging:
- Speed and lender selection matter more than ever
Brokers may need to widen their lender panels, including non‑banks and smaller players with faster turnaround times, particularly for clients depending on the First Home Buyer Deposit Scheme. - Policy literacy is now a core broker skill
Understanding the detailed trade‑offs between the 5% deposit scheme, Help to Buy and other guarantees — including how they interact with serviceability, equity growth and refinancing options — is critical to giving suitable advice. - WA will test the broker–bank–non‑bank balance
With Pallas beefing up its Perth team and CBA’s Ellie Everington charged with supporting the broker channel, Western Australia may become a case study in how major banks and non‑banks compete — and collaborate — to serve a rapidly changing market. - Clients need clear expectation management
Longer pre‑approval times, limited program places and intense competition mean borrowers must be prepared for delays, conditional approvals and the possibility of needing backup strategies.
