The latest figures from the Reserve Bank, published yesterday, show that the home loan balances of Australian lenders grew by 4.7 per cent over the 12 months to August. The annual rate of growth increased from 4.6 per cent in July, and from 4.4 per cent at the start of the year.Owner-occupier loan balances grew by 4.2 per cent over the 12 months to August and investor loan balances grew by 5.9 per cent.And banking statistics released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority yesterday tell a similar story; home loan balances increased by 4.6 per cent over the 12 months to August.Among the big banks, National Australia Bank's home loan portfolio grew by 7.2 per cent over the 12 months to August, while ANZ's grew by 5.7 per cent, Commonwealth Bank's grew by 5.2 per cent and Westpac's by 1.8 per cent.Lenders recording strong growth in their mortgage books over the 12 months to August include Macquarie Bank, which is up 21.6 per cent, Suncorp (up 8.3 per cent), HSBC Bank (7.9 per cent) and ME Bank (5.1 per cent).AMP Bank, Bank of Queensland, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Citibank and ING Direct were all below system growth.Retail deposit books continued to grow at a much faster rate than home lending, despite concerns that low interest rates would encourage savers to take their money out of at-call and term depositsAccording to APRA, household deposits increased by 8.2 per cent over the 12 months to August. Deposits were up 0.7 per cent in August, indicating that the annual growth rate is being maintained.