Macquarie, ING outshine majors in mortgage market

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its latest issue of the Monthly Authorised Deposit-Taking Institutions (MADIS) statistics, reporting that non-major banks Macquarie and ING outpaced ANZ, NAB and Westpac in the mortgage market over the September quarter.

According to the APRA data, Macquarie recorded the sharpest increase in its mortgage portfolio among the non-majors, with its book increasing by approximately $1.3 billion, from $37.3 billion to $38.6 billion.

Most of Macquarie’s growth came via the investor segment, with its investment portfolio rising by approximately $900 million, from $16.3 billion to $17.2 billion.

Investment portfolio growth was supported by an increase of approximately $400 million in Macquarie’s owner-occupied book, which rose from $21 billion to $21.3 billion.

The non-major’s performance in the mortgage market has continued to coincide with an improvement in its popularity in the broker channel, as revealed in the Australian Finance Group’s (AFG) latest mortgage and competition index for the September quarter, which is based off data collected by the aggregator’s network of 3,000 brokers.

According to the index, Macquarie’s share of the broker space increased from 9.7 per cent as at 30 June to 11.4 per cent in the three months to 30 September.

The bank’s broker market share has more than doubled over the 12 months to 30 September, from 4.6 per cent, and is ranked second overall (when excluding subsidiaries), behind only the Commonwealth Bank.

Meanwhile, ING’s portfolio grew by approximately $1.2 billion over the September quarter, from $48.5 billion to $49.7 billion.

Unlike Macquarie, ING’s portfolio growth was mostly driven by a sharp increase in its owner-occupied book, which grew by approximately $1.1 billion, from $39.2 billion to $40.3 billion.  

ING reported a modest uptick in its investment portfolio, which increased from $9.3 billion to $9.4 billion.

In contrast, ANZ, NAB and Westpac reported a cumulative contraction in their mortgage books of approximately $4.3 billion.

Despite growing its mortgage book in August (the first monthly increase in 2019), ANZ’s total portfolio slipped by approximately $1.7 billion, from $248 billion to $246.3 billion.

The contraction came via its investment portfolio, which dropped by approximately $1.8 billion, from $88.4 billion to $86.6 billion.

This was slightly offset by growth in its owner-occupied book, which increased from $159.6 billion to $159.7 billion.

NAB’s portfolio decreased by approximately $800 million, from $261.9 billion to $261.1 billion.

Growth in NAB’s owner-occupied portfolio was offset by a sharp contraction in its investment portfolio.

The bank’s owner-occupied book increased by $1.7 billion, from $146.8 billion to $148.5 billion, while its investment portfolio contracted by $2.5 billion, from $115.1 billion to $112.6 billion.

Westpac reported the sharpest contraction in its mortgage portfolio over the September quarter, with its loan book contracting by approximately $1.8 billion, from $413 billion to $411.2 billion.

The contraction came exclusively through its investment book, with its owner-occupied book increasing from $226.7 billion to $227.2 billion.

Westpac’s investment portfolio decreased by approximately $2.4 billion, from $186.3 billion to $184 billion.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) was the only major bank to report growth over the three months to 30 September, with its mortgage book rising by approximately $3.9 billion, from $434.5 billion to $438.4 billion.

The bank’s growth came exclusively via the owner-occupied channel, with its owner-occupied book growing by approximately $4.1 billion, from $278.7 billion to $282.8 billion.

This was offset by a decline in CBA’s investment home loan portfolio, which decreased from $155.8 billion to $155.6 billion.

[Related: Plunge in volumes ‘deliberate’ and ‘self-inflicted’: Westpac]