Commonwealth claws back mortgage market share

Commonwealth Bank contends that it's regaining lost ground in the mortgage market, and said it recorded nine consecutive monthly market share gains through to December 2007.

In June 2005 Commonwealth stated a 19 per cent market share of all outstanding mortgages in Australia, which steadily declined to 18.4 per cent at December 2006.

A market share recovery to 18.8 per cent at December 2007 cannot necessarily be attributed to the bank's efforts, but more to the stigma surrounding the non-banks as borrowers perceive the big banks as a much safer option and avoid lesser known brands.

The majority of the market share recovery can be attributed to the global funding crisis, as the June 2007 market share was 30 points lower than December 2007 at 18.5 per cent, with the market share gain attributing close to a $3 billion book gain based on a total outstanding of $910 billion, using Commonwealth figures sourced from the RBA and APRA.

Personal lending share was up from 16.4 to 16.7 per cent over the same period. Credit card share fell from 18.8 to 18.6 per cent.