Westpac loan book growth accelerates: APRA

The Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority’s (APRA) monthly authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) statistics for March 2024 have shown accelerated growth in Westpac’s total mortgage book month on month.

From February to March, Westpac’s total loan book grew by $2.3 billion (0.5 per cent) to $466 billion from $464 billion.

This has represented a doubled month-on-month growth rate on January to February, where Westpac’s loan book grew by 0.24 per cent ($1.1 billion).

Westpac’s owner-occupier book grew by $2.08 billion (0.68 per cent) during the month, from $306 billion to $308 billion, while its investor book increased by $255 million, from $157 billion to $158 billion.

Year on year (March 2023 to March 2024), Westpac’s total loan book has increased by $22.7 billion, from $443 billion (5.13 per cent).

The growth comes as a boon to the new Westpac CEO of consumer banking, Jason Yetton, who took on the leadership position on 1 August 2023 as part of a leadership team restructure.

The remaining three major banks recorded positive growth in both their owner-occupier and investor loan books during March, according to APRA.

ANZ’s total loan book increased by $1.2 billion (0.4 per cent) from $294 billion to $295 billion, with its owner-occupier book increasing by $757 million (0.38 per cent) from $196 billion to $197 billion, while its investor book grew by $408 million (0.42 per cent), from $97.3 billion to $97.7 billion.

ANZ’s year-on-year total loan book growth was $20.8 billion, from $274 billion (7.6 per cent).

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) maintained its lead in the mortgage market share, with its total book up by $1.9 billion (0.33 per cent) to $549 billion from $547 billion.

Its owner-occupier book grew by $1.1 billion (0.3 per cent) to $366 billion from $365 billion, while its investor book was up by $745 million (0.41 per cent) to remain above $182 billion.

Year on year, CBA’s total loan book grew by 1.8 per cent as it embarks through a transformation period following a decline in new mortgage lending in 2023 amid elevated home lending competition.

CBA has since returned to growth in 2024 and has recalibrated its strategy towards prioritising proprietary channel mortgages through CBA, while broker-written loans will be the focus of its subsidiary Bankwest as it shifts towards becoming a digital bank.

Lastly, NAB’s total loan book increased by $977 million (the smallest increase among the big four for the month) to $318 billion from $317 billion.

The lender’s owner-occupier book grew by $712 million (0.34 per cent) to $209 billion from $208 billion, while its investor book grew by $264 million (0.24 per cent) to remain above $109 billion.

NAB’s total loan book grew by approximately $12 billion year on year.

Meanwhile, non-major bank Macquarie Bank Limited (Macquarie Bank) has shown growth in its total loan book of $824 million (0.72 per cent) from $114 billion to $115 billion.

Year on year Macquarie Bank’s total loan book has increased by $10.3 billion (10.3 per cent), while its growth from 2022 was $29.1 billion (up 33.7 per cent).

An analysis from the latest Broker Pulse survey by Agile Market Intelligence – conducted between 1 and 15 February 2024 – found that Macquarie Bank had the fastest turnaround at two days, followed by ING and Bankwest at three days.

Overall, APRA revealed that the total loan book for all ADIs increased by $8.5 billion (0.39 per cent) in March, remaining around $2.17 trillion.

Owner-occupier books rose by $6.3 billion (0.42 per cent) to $1.48 trillion from $1.47 trillion and investor books grew $2.1 billion (0.31 per cent) to $699 billion to $697 billion.

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