Savings rate picks up
The dip in savings that showed up in official figures a few months ago has turned around and once again household savings rates are running ahead of borrowing rates.According to Australian Prudential Regulation Authority banking statistics released on Friday, banks' household deposit balances grew by 2.1 per cent over the three months to July, compared with 1.9 per cent growth in the mortgage balances over the same period.Over the 12 months to July, banks' household deposit balances grew by 9.3 per cent, compared with average mortgage growth of 6.5 per cent over the same period.According to the latest Reserve Bank financial aggregates, term deposit balances fell from $543.3 billion in January to $529.2 billion in June but picked up to $539.8 billion in July. Current account balances have climbed from $234.5 billion to $247.9 billion over the same period.Meanwhile, the steady improvement in the mortgage market continues. The RBA figures show that housing finance grew by 0.5 per cent in July and by 6.5 per cent in the 12 months to July. Loans to owner-occupiers were up 5.3 per cent over the year, while loans to property investors were up 8.9 per cent.Westpac achieved its goal of returning to system growth a year after announcing its "tilt to growth" strategy. Over the three months to July its mortgage book grew by 1.9 per cent, which was in line with system.Among the other big banks, NAB's book grew by 2.1 per cent over the same period, ANZ's grew by 2.1 per cent and CBA's by 1.7 per cent.Macquarie Bank continues to write a lot of business, with nine per cent growth in its mortgage book over the three months to July. ME Bank grew in line with system.AMP Bank, Bank of Queensland, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Citibank, HSBC, ING Direct and Suncorp were all below system over the three months to July.Business loan balances grew by 0.3 per cent in July and by 3.4 per cent in the 12 months to July.Personal credit grew by 0.2 per cent in July and by 0.8 per cent in the 12 months to July.