Lending bounces amid house price rebound: APRA

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) Monthly Authorised Deposit-taking Institution Statistics for November 2020 revealed that total residents’ loans and finance leases increased by 0.2 per cent in November to $6.9 billion.

APRA said that in housing lending, owner-occupier as well as investment loans increased.

“This is consistent with the recent rebound in national housing prices, driven by strong demand for detached dwellings,” it said.

Across the major banks, all the big four banks recorded growth in their respective mortgage portfolios, which was driven by an increase in owner-occupier lending, while the banks also recorded marginal growth in their respective investment lending portfolios.

ANZ’s mortgage portfolio grew from $259.9 billion in October to $261.3 billion in November. This was driven by growth in its owner-occupier lending portfolio, which grew from $173.8 billion in October to $174.5 billion in November.

Investment lending posted recovery for the second consecutive month in November, rising from $86.2 billion in October to $86.8 billion in November, although it remains below August 2020 levels, when investment lending totalled $86.9 billion.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA) mortgage portfolio grew from $460.8 billion in October to $463.2 billion in November, with owner-occupier lending rising from $302.7 billion to $304.6 billion in November.

The major bank’s investment lending portfolio grew slightly, rising from $158.1 billion in October to $158.6 billion in November.

The National Australia Bank’s (NAB) mortgage portfolio posted a marginal recovery in November, increasing from $259.8 billion in October to $260.1 billion in November, although it failed to reach or surpass September levels of $260.4 billion, or August 2020 levels of $261.1 billion.

NAB’s investment lending levels recorded a decline for the second consecutive month, dropping from October levels of $103.1 billion to $102.6 billion in November. Its owner-occupier lending portfolio increased slightly from $156.7 billion in October to $157.5 billion in November.

Meanwhile, after declining substantially in October, Westpac recorded a slight growth in November, increasing from $404.5 billion in October to $404.7 billion in September. This has come after the portfolio totalled $405.3 billion in September.

The increase was driven by the bank’s owner-occupier portfolio, which increased from $227.9 billion in October to $228.6 billion in November.

However, Westpac’s investment lending portfolio declined from $176.6 billion in October to $176.1 billion in November 2020.

[Related: Major banks split on mortgage portfolio growth]