Why there are no interest rates on this page
Every home loan in India has been linked to the repo rate since October 2019. When the repo moves, every lender’s rate moves with it, and the spread on top is set on your credit score, your loan size and your down payment. There is no single figure that is true for a lender for more than a few weeks, so printing one here would be inventing it. Each lender below links to its own live page instead.
The Choice That Actually Matters: Bank or Housing Finance Company
Every list of home loan lenders mixes two different kinds of institution together as though they were the same thing. They are not, and the difference is regulatory rather than marketing. It decides more about whether you get the loan than any rate comparison will.
A bank takes deposits and lends against them. A housing finance company — an HFC — does not take current and savings deposits; it raises money from the market and lends it for housing. LIC Housing Finance, PNB Housing and Bajaj Housing are HFCs. SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI, Axis, Bank of Baroda, Kotak and Canara are banks.
Where a bank usually wins
- Lower spread over the repo, so a lower rate for a clean salaried file.
- The salary-account advantage, which is the single largest lever most borrowers have.
- Cheaper and simpler to move a loan away from later.
- Everything sits in one place if you already bank there.
Where an HFC usually wins
- Older properties, smaller towns, and titles a bank’s legal team will not clear quickly.
- Self-employed income that is real but awkward to evidence.
- Cases a bank has already declined on documentation rather than on affordability.
- Faster movement when a builder deadline is running.
The practical rule that follows: if you are salaried, buying in a large approved project, and your paperwork is straightforward, start with the bank that holds your salary account. If any part of that sentence is not true of you — the property is old, the income is self-employed, the town is small — an HFC is not a fallback, it is the right first call.
This is why "which bank is cheapest" is the wrong question
Two applicants at the same lender on the same day get different rates, because the spread is set on their scores and their down payments. And the same applicant gets roughly the same rate at most banks, because the repo underneath is identical. The number that varies enormously between lenders is not the rate — it is whether they will approve your particular property at all.
The Lenders
Ten of the largest home loan lenders in India. The column that does the work here is the second one.
State Bank of India
Bank
The largest home loan book in the country.
Suits: Salaried applicants whose salary already lands in an SBI account, government and PSU staff, and anyone buying in a smaller town where SBI has a branch and the private banks do not.
HDFC Bank
Bank
Absorbed HDFC Ltd, the specialist housing financier, in the 2023 merger - so the country’s deepest home loan underwriting sits inside a bank now.
Suits: Self-employed applicants and anyone with income that needs explaining, because the underwriting inherited from HDFC Ltd is used to assessing it.
LIC Housing Finance
Housing finance company
A housing finance company, not a bank - regulated differently and usually more flexible on the property itself.
Suits: Buyers whose property is older, is in a smaller town, or has paperwork a bank’s legal team will not sign off quickly.
ICICI Bank
Bank
Strong digital process and a wide approved-project list in the metros.
Suits: Salaried buyers in metro cities purchasing in a large, already-approved project, who want the sanction moving quickly.
Axis Bank
Bank
Like its personal loan, the terms move noticeably for existing account holders.
Suits: Existing Axis customers, and salaried applicants at large listed employers.
Bank of Baroda
Bank
Public sector pricing with a branch network well beyond the metros.
Suits: Buyers who care more about the rate than the speed, and purchases outside the big cities.
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Bank
Competes hardest on balance transfers taken away from other lenders.
Suits: Existing borrowers elsewhere looking to move an running loan rather than first-time buyers.
PNB Housing Finance
Housing finance company
A housing finance company. Worth stating plainly: it is a separate listed entity from Punjab National Bank, not the bank’s home loan desk.
Suits: Self-employed applicants and cases a bank has already declined on income documentation.
Canara Bank
Bank
Public sector, strongest in the south and in smaller cities.
Suits: Rate-sensitive buyers, and applicants who would rather walk into a branch than use an app.
Bajaj Housing Finance
Housing finance company
A housing finance company that leans towards larger tickets and self-employed profiles.
Suits: High-value purchases and self-employed borrowers whose income is real but awkward to document.
The Salary Account Advantage
The bank your salary lands in every month can see something no other lender can: your actual income, your actual spending, and whether either has been unstable. That visibility is worth real money, and it usually shows up in three places.
- A lower spread. Existing customers are cheaper to underwrite and are often priced accordingly.
- Lighter documentation. The bank already holds your statements; it does not need to ask for them.
- A faster sanction. Which matters more than it sounds when a builder is holding a unit for you.
It is not automatic, and it is worth asking for explicitly rather than assuming. But if you are going to approach only one lender first, approach that one. The same logic is set out for personal loans on our personal loan lender pages, and it holds even more firmly on a home loan because the amounts and the tenure are so much larger.
The Property Gets Approved Before You Do
Most people assume a home loan application is an assessment of the borrower. Half of it is an assessment of the property, and that half is where applications quietly die.
Lenders maintain lists of approved projects — developments whose title, approvals and builder they have already checked. A flat in an approved project moves quickly. The same buyer, buying an identical flat in a project the lender has not cleared, waits weeks for a legal and technical report and may be declined for reasons that have nothing to do with their income.
- Ask the builder which lenders have approved the project before you shortlist lenders. It reverses the usual order and saves the most time.
- Older and resale properties take longer everywhere, and are where HFCs are noticeably more willing.
- Plot and construction loans are a different product from a flat purchase — not every lender on this list offers all of them.
- Clear title is not negotiable. No lender lends on a disputed title at any rate.
Do not apply to six lenders at once
Every full application triggers a hard enquiry on your credit report. Several within a few weeks reads as somebody who is being turned down repeatedly, and it can lower the score the lender is about to price you on — so the strategy meant to find the best rate can cost you one.
Shortlist two, three at most. Use each lender’s own eligibility check first, which is a soft enquiry and leaves no mark, and only submit a full application where the answer looks right. The mechanics of this are covered on how to apply.
If You Already Have a Home Loan
Most of this page is written for a first purchase. If you are already paying a home loan, the lender question is a different one: not who to borrow from, but whether it is worth moving.
Because every loan is repo-linked, a gap between your rate and the market usually means your spread has drifted rather than the benchmark. Two things are worth trying in order:
- Ask your existing lender to reset the spread first. Many will, for a conversion fee that is far smaller than the cost of moving. Almost nobody asks.
- Then consider a transfer, remembering that the saving is only real if enough tenure remains for it to accumulate. Full working on home loan balance transfer.
Questions This Page Gets Asked
Which bank is best for a home loan in India?
There is no single answer, and any page giving one is guessing. For a salaried applicant with clean documents buying in an approved project, the bank holding the salary account is usually the strongest start. For self-employed income, an older property or a smaller town, a housing finance company is more likely to say yes.
Why do you not show interest rates?
Because they would be wrong within weeks. Home loans in India are repo-linked, so every lender’s rate moves when the RBI moves the repo, and the spread on top is set individually on your score, loan size and down payment. Each lender page here links to that lender’s own live rate instead.
Is a housing finance company worse than a bank?
No, it is different. HFCs typically price slightly higher but are more willing on properties and income profiles that banks decline. For a clean salaried file a bank is usually cheaper; for an awkward one an HFC may be the only approval available.
Does applying to several banks improve my chances?
It usually reduces them. Each full application is a hard enquiry, and several in a short window can pull your score down just as the lender is pricing you on it. Use soft eligibility checks to compare, then apply properly to two or three.
Does my salary account bank really give a better deal?
Often, yes — it can see your income and spending directly, so you are cheaper to assess. It is not automatic, so ask for it rather than assuming it. It is the single largest lever most salaried borrowers have.
Can I get a home loan if the project is not approved by my bank?
Sometimes, but it takes longer and may be declined on the property rather than on you. Ask the builder which lenders have already approved the project and start there — it is the fastest route and costs nothing to check.
How many lenders should I actually approach?
Two or three. Compare using soft eligibility checks, which leave no mark on your credit report, and submit full applications only where the answer already looks right.
Is the lowest rate always the cheapest loan?
No. Processing fees, legal and technical charges, insurance bundled into the sanction, and the conversion fee you may pay later all sit outside the rate. Compare what leaves your account over the life of the loan, using the EMI calculator.
About this page
Money Bharti is a loan marketplace and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any lender named here. Lender details were last reviewed on 9 August 2026 and change without notice — confirm everything on the lender’s own website before applying. Nothing on this page is a quote, an offer, or a guarantee of approval.
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Where This Page Sits
This is one page in a larger guide. The pillar covers the whole subject end to end — rates, eligibility, documents and the process — and links to every page in the silo.
Comparing products rather than digging into one? These are the main guides.
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Responsible borrowing note
All rates, fees and eligibility figures on this page are indicative market ranges for illustration and are not an offer. Approval, pricing and the sanctioned amount rest entirely with the bank or NBFC. Money Bharti is a loan marketplace, not a lender. Assess your repayment capacity honestly and read the sanction letter in full before signing. This content is general information, not financial advice.