November
CBA’s mortgage lending book returns to growth
The bank has arrested a shrinking mortgage book, which returned to growth in October as the bank refocused on winning new customers with digital offers.
- James Eyers
How much money are parents lending kids to buy houses now? Take a look
Jarden economists, having surveyed 282 mortgage brokers, estimate 15 per cent of borrowers tapped their parents for financial assistance in the past 12 months.
- Hannah Wootton
Why banks spy on your petrol bills
Lenders look at whether you stop short of filling up the tank or start shopping at Aldi to work out whether the home loan is becoming a struggle.
- James Eyers
ANZ Plus launches digital home loans, plots expansion
ANZ Plus has ticked up to half a million customers, holding $10 billion in deposits. Last week, it launched mortgages to a limited group that is set to grow.
- James Eyers
No cliff: NAB’s riskiest mortgage borrowers are hanging in there
Recent RBA rate rises mean some home loan borrowers have breached serviceability buffers. But Ross McEwan says their arrears are no different to other cohorts.
- James Eyers and Lucas Baird
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
Big money fintech Athena struggles to vanquish banks in mortgage wars
Heavily backed home loan industry disruptor Athena’s loan book shrank markedly last year, and it has slashed jobs to extend its funding runway.
- Nick Bonyhady
October
- Updated
- Big four
CBA loan book shrinks three months running, the first time in decades
The bank’s lending to owner-occupiers and housing investors fell to $542.2 billion at the end of September as it steered clear of writing loss-making mortgages.
- Updated
- Lucas Baird and James Eyers
NRMA to offer home loans funded by Bendigo Bank
Like Qantas, the IAG-owned insurer will distribute mortgages to its customers via an origination platform created by fintech Tic:Toc, funded by Bendigo Bank.
- James Eyers
This bank didn’t lose a single dollar to mortgage stress last year
NGM chief Bernadette Inglis says the outsized focus on the mortgage cliff made bankers and mortgage brokers prone to being “apprehensive”.
- Lucas Baird
Bank investors brace for CBA’s response to its shrinking loan book
The bank faces increasing competition from ANZ and Westpac, where a “wild internal battle” for the top job has created a push for more market share.
- James Eyers
CBA home lending slide flags new mortgage war
The loan book at the country’s largest bank has shrunk for two consecutive months for the first time in 20 years. Analysts say it will respond with lower prices.
- James Eyers
September
Medcraft calls on APRA to link mortgage serviceability buffer to cycle
The former ASIC chairman said a mortgage repayment buffer of 3 per cent did not make sense given how interest rates can swing.
- Campbell Kwan and James Eyers
- Updated
- Big four
Many mortgage prisoners still out there, say brokers
A survey of almost 500 brokers found more borrowers unable to refinance as they can’t meet spending tests at new lenders amid concerns on rising repayments.
- Updated
- James Eyers and Lucas Baird
August
Mortgage cliff a mirage as banks keep borrowers
More than half of the $350 billion in low interest fixed-rate loans have moved to variable products, and the major lenders are the big winners, new data shows.
- Lucas Baird and James Eyers
Pacific Equity Partners forges into reverse mortgage sector
The deal with PEP is expected to increase the size of Household Capital’s debt facility to over $600 million.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Does size matter for boosting bank competition?
On the face of it, it would be open to the Australian Competition Tribunal to make a different call on how to best turn the competitive dial in banking than the conclusion reached by the policy wonks at the ACCC.
- The AFR View
Westpac’s fin advice white knight, Viridian, bets on mortgages
Four years after it grabbed headlines buying up Westpac’s advice books, Melbourne’s Viridian Financial Group has found an acquisition that would take its revenue over the $100 million mark for the first time.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
July
Banks raise rates faster than the RBA as they claw back margins
Mortgage rates for new customers of the big banks are up 0.32 percentage points more than the central bank’s official rate rises this year, new data shows.
- James Eyers and Lucas Baird
Banks accused of delaying home loan switching
Fresh data from Lendi shows major banks take 20 days to close a mortgage to let a borrower switch banks – twice as long as the ACCC wants to see.
- James Eyers
Sydney, Melbourne outer suburbs have double the rate of loan arrears
The data from S&P Global Ratings will be used by banks as they determine lending policies such as requiring higher deposits amid rising interest rates.
- Updated
- James Eyers
