Buying a home in Ghana

Two Ghanaian banks publish a mortgage rate

We read every Ghanaian bank’s own website looking for the price of a home loan and, in September 2026, the documents they publish. Two have it: Republic on its mortgage calculator, and First Atlantic in its tariff guide, as a margin over the Ghana Reference Rate. Here is what they say, what everybody else says instead, and what it means for the arithmetic of buying.

Corrected 23 September 2026: this page said one bank publishes a mortgage rate. First Atlantic Bank’s tariff guide, read that day, publishes one for its Purple Plus Mortgage: the Ghana Reference Rate plus a minimum of 8%, or 12% in dollars.

The published rates

Republic Bank (Ghana)

Home Purchase Mortgage (USD)

11.50% a year

11.5% a year, fixed, up to 15 years. Up to 80% of value for non-residents. Debt service ratio up to 40%. The currency is the risk: a cedi earner servicing a dollar loan carries the exchange rate, and the cedi has moved a long way in both directions.

National Home-Ownership Fund Mortgage Scheme

13.50% a year

13.5% a year under the government scheme — four and a half points below the same bank's standard individual rate. Eligibility is set by the scheme rather than the bank.

Home Purchase Mortgage — individuals (GHS)

18.00% a year

18% a year, fixed. Up to 20 years. Debt service ratio up to 50%.

Home Purchase Mortgage — businesses (GHS)

23.00% a year

23% a year, fixed, where the borrower is a business.

First Atlantic Bank

Purple Plus Mortgage (USD)

12.00% a year

Published as 12% for USD. Up to 7 years; 20% equity contribution. First Atlantic tariff guide, 24 August 2026, page 2.

Purple Plus Mortgage (GHS)

Reference Rate + at least 8%

At the Ghana Reference Rate of 10.04% effective 7 October 2026, at least 18.04% a year.

Published as the Ghana Reference Rate plus a minimum of 8%. Up to 7 years; 20% equity contribution. First Atlantic tariff guide, 24 August 2026, page 2.

One rate on the websites, a second in the documents

In September 2026 we read the mortgage and home loan pages of every Ghanaian bank whose site we could reach — twenty-one of twenty-three, following each site’s own navigation rather than guessing addresses. One published an interest rate. Reading the documents the banks publish found a second: First Atlantic’s tariff guide prices its Purple Plus Mortgage at the Ghana Reference Rate plus a minimum of 8%.

First National Bank, who acquired Ghana Home Loans and are described in the Ghanaian business press as the country’s mortgage leaders, publish four home loan products and no price for any of them.

Bank of Ghana also licenses a separate category called Mortgage Finance. It has one member, NorthStar Home Finance. They publish four service lines and no rate, no minimum, no loan-to-value and no term.

Two banks, Fidelity and GCB, returned redirects our automated reader could not follow — so neither is counted in the twenty-one. Both were then read by hand, and neither publishes a mortgage rate either.

Why the rate decides everything

Prime residential property in Accra is reported to yield around 8% to 11% a year gross — before vacancy, maintenance, management, insurance and the 8% tax on residential rental income.

Set that against the published rates. A GH₵800,000 mortgage at 18% costs about GH₵144,000 in first-year interest. A GH₵1m property yielding 9% brings in about GH₵90,000 of rent.

The rent does not cover the interest, before any costs at all

That gap has to be made up from somewhere — from the buyer’s own income, or from the property appreciating faster than the shortfall accumulates. Which is a bet on price growth rather than an income investment, and worth recognising as one before signing for twenty years.

The yield figures above are from published market research rather than our own data, and we have not verified them. Everything else on this page comes from the lenders themselves.

What each bank does publish

Loan-to-value, tenor, currencies, eligibility — each bank states a different subset, which is why this is a list rather than a table.

Republic Bank Ghana →First National Bank Ghana →Stanbic Bank Ghana →Absa Bank Ghana →Fidelity Bank Ghana →First Atlantic Bank →

Each lender page carries what they publish, with the date we read it. Terms about who may borrow from abroad are on the diaspora page.

Five things to ask before you borrow

1Is the rate fixed or variable? Republic's four are fixed; Stanbic describe theirs as variable. Over twenty years that is the difference between a cost you can plan for and one you cannot.
2What is the all-in cost? A rate is not a price. Ask for the facility fee, the processing fee, the valuation fee, the legal fee and any annual review charge, as a total.
3What deposit do you need, and is the insurance separate? First National's 100% Purchase loan carries an insurance policy of up to 30% of the purchase price — which is not a deposit, and not a loan-to-value ratio.
4If you live abroad, in which currency can you borrow? Republic lend dollars to non-residents; Stanbic and First National both offer pounds. Borrowing in the currency you earn removes the exchange risk from the repayment.
5What happens if the rate moves? On a variable rate over twenty years, ask what the highest payment could be rather than what today's is.

Know somebody buying a home in Ghana? Send it to them.

About this data

Free to quote · no permission needed

Source: the banks' own websites and published documents
Covering: 21 of 23 licensed banks' websites, the documents of those whose sites allowed it, plus the Bank of Ghana Mortgage Finance register
Last checked: September 2026
Method: Each bank's site navigation followed from its home page rather than addresses guessed. Rates recorded only where the lender publishes a number or a formula; terms recorded as published. Two banks were unreachable and are counted as neither.

Cite this

Ghanaian mortgage rates and published terms, 21 of 23 licensed banks' websites, the documents of those whose sites allowed it, plus the Bank of Ghana Mortgage Finance register. Compiled by Cedafin from the banks' own websites and published documents. https://cedafin.com/mortgages (accessed 17 October 2026).

Use any of this without asking. No permission needed, no credit required — the line above is offered because a formatted citation is easier than composing one, not because we ask for it.

Not licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Ghana. We publish factual comparisons of regulated products and do not provide investment advice, hold client money, or execute transactions. We are not a credit broker and do not arrange finance. If you lend and we have your terms wrong, or you publish a rate we have missed, tell us and we will correct it the same day.