The value of new housing lending continued to fall in July but the value of external refinancing was the highest it has ever been.
According to the latest ABS lending data, the value of new housing loan commitments fell 1.2 per cent in July, compared with the previous month. This follows fall of 1 per cent in June and 4.8 per cent in May.
The A$24.2 billion of new lending was down 14.1 per cent over the 12 months to July.
The value of new lending to owner occupiers was down 1.9 per cent month-on-month and down 17.5 per cent over 12 months.
New lending to investors was down 0.1 per cent month-on-month and down 7.2 per cent over 12 months.
The value of external refinancing rose 5.4 per cent to a record high of $21.5 billion. The value of external refinancing was up 21.8 per cent over 12 months.
The average loan size was $593,213 – up from $580,240 the previous month.
The latest Reserve Bank data show that lenders’ mortgage balances grew by 0.3 per cent in July and by 4.5 per cent over the 12 months to July.
Owner occupier loan balances were up 0.3 per cent month-on-month and 5.1 per cent over 12 months.
Investor loan balances rose 0.2 per cent month-on-month and rose 3.2 per cent over 12 months.
APRA figures for July show that the big banks have adopted different approaches in the current mortgage market, with CBA’s book running off during the month, while Westpac’s grew at twice system.
With system growth at 4 per cent annualised over the three months to July, CBA’s mortgage portfolio reduced by 4.2 per cent annualised in July, Westpac’s grew at 6.5 per cent annualised, ANZ’s grew 3.8 per cent annualised and NAB’s grew 1 per cent.
Macquarie Securities said it was the first time CBA has had a negative month in the mortgage data since 2017.
The other lender to report run-off was Bank of Queensland – down 0.9 per cent over the past year.
Judo Bank, Macquarie Bank and AMP Bank were the mortgage lenders reporting the highest growth in July.