A bond that takes too long was never really approved.

Why does one bond come back from the bank within days while another sits for weeks? The difference is rarely the bank's workload. A clean application, with a steady salary and a valuation that supports the price, tends to move quickly because there is nothing to ask about. A slow one is usually slow because the bank keeps finding things to ask about.

Each request is a small sign. More payslips. An explanation for a large deposit into the account. A letter about a store account in arrears. Then the valuer reports a figure below the purchase price, and the bank offers less than the buyer applied for. By the time an answer arrives, it is often an approval with conditions attached, which is a different thing from a yes.

Meanwhile the offer to purchase is ticking. Most contain a suspensive condition that the bond must be approved by a certain date, and if it is not, the sale can lapse. Sellers sometimes grant an extension, then another, and the house stays off the market while everyone waits on an answer that keeps not arriving.

So a long wait carries information. A bank that was comfortable lending would have said so early, and the delay is the bank thinking aloud about why it might not.