Owner occupier mortgage lending down for fourth consecutive month

John Kavanagh

New housing loan commitments fell 1.4 per cent in September, compared with the previous month, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics lending data.

New lending has fallen 7.1 per cent from a high of A$32.6 billion in May to $30.3 billion in September. 

New lending of $20.7 billion to owner occupiers was down 2.7 per cent in September, while new lending of $9.6 billion to investors rose 1.4 per cent.

The value of new loan commitments for owner occupiers fell for the fourth month in a row. 

Over the year to September new housing loan commitments rose 35.5 per cent, with lending to owner occupiers up 20.8 per cent and lending to investors up 83.2 per cent.

First home buyers have been hit hard by rising house prices. The number of new loan commitments to owner occupier first home buyers fell 5.6 per cent in September and by 27.1 per cent over the 12 months to September.

According to the latest Reserve Bank lending data, the value of lenders’ mortgage books grew 0.6 per cent in September and by 6.5 per cent over the year to September. The annual growth rate is the highest since 2017.

Owner occupier balances were up 0.7 per cent in September and up 8.7 per cent over the year. Investor balances were up 0.3 per cent in September and up 2.4 per cent over the year.

APRA’s latest mortgage figures shows that among the big banks, ANZ’s book continues to shrink, falling by 0.9 per cent over the past three months (an annualised rate of decline of 3.6 per cent).

CBA’s book grew at an annualised rate of 8.4 per cent over the past three months, compared with system growth of 6.4 per cent over the same period.

NAB’s mortgage book grew at an annualised rate of 6.8 per cent over the three months and Westpac’s book grew 5.6 per cent.

ME Bank’s book continues to shrink – down 0.9 per cent in September and 16.8 per cent annualised over the quarter.

Other lenders going backwards in the highly competitive mortgage market include MyLifeMyFinance, Australian Mutual Bank, Greater Bank, Police Credit Union, Qudos, Warwick Credit Union and Victorian Teachers.

Lenders growing ahead of system, based on three-month numbers, include Bank of China, Bank of Queensland, Citibank, HSBC, Macquarie and Suncorp.