Lending growth slows
Consumer credit providers saw the value of their portfolios fall in January - the third fall in four months. At the same time, the rate of growth in lenders' mortgage and business portfolios has slowed.According to the latest Reserve Bank lending figures, the value of consumer finance portfolios fell by 0.2 per cent in January, compared with the previous month, and has fallen by 0.2 per cent over the 12 months to January.Australian Prudential Regulation Authority figures also released yesterday show that the value of authorised deposit-taking institutions' credit card portfolios fell by 1.79 per cent in January.In the mortgage market, RBA figures show that lenders' portfolios grew by 0.5 per cent in January, compared with the previous month, and by 7.3 per cent over the 12 months to January.The annual rate of growth has fallen from a high of 7.5 per cent in November.Owner-occupier balances grew by 0.6 per cent per cent in January, compared with the previous month, and by 6.9 per cent over the 12 months to January. Investor loan balances grew by 0.3 per cent month on month and by 7.9 per cent over 12 months.Business credit balances grew by 0.6 per cent month-on-month and by 6.2 per cent over 12 months.APRA figures show that mortgage lenders growing above system include ANZ, whose mortgage book has grown by 12.8 per cent over the 12 months to January, Bank Australia (12.2 per cent), Bank of Queensland (10.2 per cent), HSBC (8.6 per cent), Bank of Sydney (15.4 per cent), Macquarie Bank (23.2 per cent) and Teachers Mutual Bank (18.5 per cent).Household deposits with ADIs increased by 8.2 per cent over the 12 months to January - exceeding the rate of growth in mortgage balances.