Australia’s largest mortgage aggregation group, AFG, posted record loan origination volumes in the September quarter on the back of a rebound in demand from first home buyers and home renovators.
AFG’s broker network lodged 35,461 home loan applications during the three month period, an increase of almost 4,500 on the June quarter.
The surge in applications translated into record funding of A$18.2 billion – up $1.4 billion on the June quarter and $2.5 billion on the September quarter last year.
AFG chief executive David Bailey attributed the surge in activity to a wave of borrowers entering the market for the first time.
“The surge was largely driven by an uptick in first home buyers as they make the most of federal and state government incentives to support the country’s construction market,” he said.
“Mortgage brokers have played a vital role in ensuring first home buyers were in prime position to access the various incentives and understand their choices.
“A total of 23 per cent of all lending applications processed by AFG brokers during the quarter were for those purchasing their first home.”
There was also significant movement in business flows to small lenders, according to the AFG data.
The four major banks accounted for 58.9 per cent of loan applications over the three-month period – down from 66.8 per cent recorded in the June 2020 quarter.
The big loser was ANZ.
In the June quarter ANZ claimed more than 25 per cent loan lodgements through AFG’s distribution network, but recoiled to 9.6 per cent in the September period.
Westpac regained momentum during the quarter thanks largely to a doubling of loan applications flowing to its St George and Bank of Melbourne subsidiaries.
The banking group’s market share ballooned to 16.2 per cent from 10.3 per cent in the June quarter.
NAB and CBA were steady.
Macquarie was the big winner among the non-major lenders, accounting for 1 in every 4 AFG-originated loans directed to small lenders.
Macquarie accounted for 10 per cent of all loan applications, which means it won more business from AFG than NAB (7.5 per cent) and ANZ (9.6 per cent).
Citibank, Newcastle Permanent, Suncorp, Auswide and CUA were among other small lenders to retrieve market share during the quarter.
However, ING and Bank of Queensland each lost ground.