Top mortgages compared

About Top mortgages compared

This ranking covers residential mortgage lenders across Europe and North America, drawn from 852 brands in the wider set. Each entry is placed on what a household pays and how the account works: the rate offered, the fee attached to the loan, how long that rate can be held, how much of a property's value can be borrowed, what the loan can be used for, and the channels for help. The trade-off that separates most of this list is cost against flexibility. Some lenders hold a rate low for a long stretch but charge for arranging it, while others ask for nothing up front and expect a shorter fixed period. Several members lend only for remortgaging or home equity, so a first-time buyer works through a shorter list. The median annual percentage rate for this category is 4.91% and the median starting rate 4.77%. Safety of the money works differently here than in products where a balance can fall: the median retail loss share is 70.15% and the highest 88%, while a mortgage carries rate and property risk instead.

How we picked

Every brand here is scored on weighted measures, with trust carrying the largest share at 40%, cost at 35% and offer at 25%. Trust looks at the entity behind the brand, the market it operates in and what a borrower can see before signing. Cost weighs the rate, the fee for arranging the loan and how much can be borrowed against a property. Offer weighs the purposes a loan serves, the length of the fixed period, the borrowing ceiling and the support channels listed. Figures come from each provider's own terms pages, rate tables and legal notices, and the site holds the wider category ranges alongside them, such as 1.8% to 64.4% for the annual percentage rate and 30% to 110% for borrowing against a property. Where scores are close, the brand with the broader support offering and the clearer stated terms ranks higher. Partners are listed first, then every other brand by score, and the order does not change with the size of the company or how long it has traded.

Our top picks

1. 1. Sofkredit

   Sofkredit is in this ranking for the breadth of the home equity offer. It lends against a maximum loan to value of 30%, sets an initial rate of 8% to 14% and an annual percentage rate of 10.74% to 18.06%, and lets you hold the rate for 0.5 to 20 years, the widest window of any member here. The cost is the arrangement, with fees running €900 to €1,350, and the borrowing ceiling is the tightest in the ranking, so more of the purchase comes from your own savings. Support runs on email, phone and help centre, so a help centre sits alongside email and phone. Creditilia ES, next in this ranking, takes the opposite bargain with a lower rate and a lighter fee.

   • APR: 10.74% to 18.06%
   • Loan amount: €12,000 to €300,000
   • Term: 6 to 240 months

   Pros

   • Loan amounts of €12,000 to €300,000 suit secured borrowing, debt consolidation and business finance.
   • Sofkredit adds no charge of its own, while the 6% to 9% arrangement fee on mortgage-guaranteed loans is set by the collaborating lender.
   • A soft prequalification check under soft prequal is gentler on a credit file than a full search.
   • Support runs on email, phone and help centre, so help is reachable without a branch visit.
   • Same-day funding appears under same day funding for the quickest route from signing to cash.

   Cons

   • The collaborating lender charges an arrangement fee of 6% to 9% of the loan on top of the interest rate.
   • The top of the 10.74% to 18.06% range compares with a site median of 15.5%, so the dearest outcome sits well above the middle of the market.
   • Sofkredit works as a broker under broker, so the lender and the final terms sit elsewhere.
   • Borrowers after a small short-term loan are pushed away, since the published amounts are €12,000 to €300,000.

2. 5. Prestalo

   Prestalo is in this ranking because it offers a long fixed period with no arrangement fee. The initial rate is 2.36% and the annual percentage rate 2.97%, the fee is €0, and the rate can be held for 25 years, which suits anyone who wants a predictable payment over a long stretch. It has traded since 2018 and is operated by PRESTALO ONLINE, S.L., with support on email, chat and phone, the widest channel range in the ranking. The limit is the borrowing ceiling, set at 80% against a category median of 90%, so a larger deposit is needed. Swedbank Mastercard, next, lends further and charges a fee.

   • APR: 4.1% to 30%
   • Loan amount: €500 to €100,000
   • Term: 1 to 120 months

   Pros

   • No arrangement fee on personal loans: 0 EUR.
   • Early repayment is free, so clearing the balance early costs nothing extra.
   • Personal loans run €500 to €100,000 and 1 to 120, so borrowers can size the loan and the term to suit them.
   • Support runs on email, chat and phone, which covers phone and chat as well as email.
   • Same-day funding is listed as a feature, same day funding, for borrowers who need money quickly.

   Cons

   • The rate is fixed rather than variable, so fixed pricing cannot fall the way a variable rate can.
   • A hard credit check applies, hard, so an application creates a full credit file search.
   • Prestalo works as a broker, broker, so the lender named in the offer is the party you repay and Prestalo sits in between.
   • Eligibility rests on residence in Spain, a valid DNI or NIE and stable sufficient income, so the offer reaches a single market.

What to look for

The annual percentage rate, not the headline rate

The median annual percentage rate in this ranking is 4.91%, and the upper quartile sits at 6.81% or above. The lowest figure held for the category is 1.8%. A modest starting rate can sit far above what you actually repay once fees are counted, so read the annual percentage rate before comparing anything else.

The fee attached to the loan

The median annual fee for mortgages is €3.10 and the upper quartile reaches €25.24, while the low end of the set is €0. Some entries here show a product fee of SEK 0 and others €900 to €1,350, so an arrangement fee is a real choice between brands rather than a given.

How long the rate is fixed

The median fixed period in this category is 10 years, with 3 at the lower quartile and 20 at the upper one. The median term is 60 months. A short fix may cost less and leaves the rate open to move sooner.

How much of the property you can borrow

The median borrowing ceiling here is 90%, and the lowest ceiling held for the category is 30%. A tight ceiling means a bigger deposit from your own savings, so check the borrowing limit before you get excited about a rate.

What the loan is allowed to do

Most offers in this category fund a purchase (95.6%), with remortgaging close behind (61.2%) and first-time buyer lending far less common (26.9%). If you are buying your first home, rule out any brand that lends only against an existing property.

Help, credit checks and repaying early

Phone support is common in this category (87.1%) and help centres are also widespread (66.1%), so check the channels on the entry you prefer. A hard credit check applies to most offers (82.4%), and early repayment is free for most of them (76.5%), which matters if you plan to overpay or sell.

Frequently asked questions

Top mortgages compared by country

• Australia
• Austria
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• France
• Germany
• India
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• South Korea
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV