Will the bank use my real estate agent's appraisal?

No. The bank only lends on a valuation it orders itself, either from an independent valuer or through its own automated or desktop valuation systems.

Why is the bank valuation lower than the appraisal?

Bank valuations are built on settled sales data, which only arrives after properties actually sell, so they lag a rising market. Agents price off what's happening today, and sometimes lean high to win the listing.

Can I challenge a low bank valuation?

You can supply comparable sales, but it rarely moves. In practice the better path is often a different lender, whose valuation system may land on a different number for the same property.

Do I pay for the bank valuation?

Usually not. Most lenders wear the cost for a standard residential property. Very large, rural or unusual properties can carry a fee.

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Straight Answers · Refinancing

Bank valuation or agent appraisal: which one counts?

Bayley Clarke · Mortgage broker on the road · Last checked 3 September 2026 · 3 min read

The short answer

For anything home loan related, the bank valuation is the one you're actually going to be using. The banks will not use an agent appraisal when they're figuring out how much you can borrow against a property.

An agent looks at the current market and gives you an honest, hopefully, read on what your place is worth today. Bank valuations only have access to historical settled data, so they typically lag behind the market. Both are useful. Only one of them moves your loan.

The two minute version. The rest of this page is the detail underneath it.

What an agent appraisal is

An agent is going to look at the current market and give you an honest, hopefully, recommendation on what your property is actually worth today. They're the ones in the trenches selling properties all the time, and they know exactly where a place like yours is going to sit against what's on the market right now.

It's nice to get an agent appraisal done, just so you know what it might be worth in today's market. It's free, it takes half an hour, and it's the right tool if the question you're asking is 'what would this sell for'. The caveat is the incentive. An appraisal is also a pitch for your listing, so some agents lean high.

What a bank valuation is, and why it lags

Bank valuations only have access to historical settled data as far as what properties have been selling, and that data only flows through when the property is actually sold. So in a rising market the bank's number typically sits behind where the agents are. In a falling market, it can be the other way around.

The bank gets that number one of three ways. An independent valuer, which is assigned separate to the bank but enlisted on behalf of the bank, does a walkthrough inspection. Or the bank uses one of its online systems: an automated valuation, or a desktop valuation where a valuer works off data and photos without visiting. Which one you get depends on the lender, the loan size, the loan to value ratio and how ordinary the property is.

An agent isn't an independent valuer, and it isn't the bank's internal valuation system that determines what your property is worth. So the source of truth for how the banks will actually lend you money is the valuation they do themselves. There's no appeal to the agent's number.

So for you that means

If you're refinancing, pulling equity, or trying to drop into a lower LVR tier, the bank valuation is the whole game. A $50k gap between the appraisal and the valuation can be the difference between paying lenders mortgage insurance and not, or between a cash out approval and a decline.

The useful move is running the bank's own valuation tools up front, before an application goes in, so we know what number we're working with. Different lenders value the same property differently, and if one comes in low, sometimes the answer is trying another lender rather than arguing with the first.

The honest bit: the number you like isn't always the number you get

People go into a refinance with the agent's appraisal in their head and get a bank valuation $60k under it. That's not the bank being difficult. It's two different tools measuring two different things.

Which is exactly why I check the valuation before we lodge anything. Better to know the bank's number on day one than to build the whole plan on a figure the bank was never going to use.

Want to know what the bank thinks your place is worth?

A 30 minute call. I run the valuation tools the lenders actually use, on your property, before anything goes on your file. Then we know what we're working with.

Book a 30 minute call Call 0437 189 939

No cost to you. The bank pays me when a loan settles. · How I get paid

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