Macquarie outperforms majors in mortgage market

The non-major’s mortgage book was bolstered by growth in both its owner-occupied and investment portfolios.

Macquarie’s owner-occupied book grew by approximately $800 million in August, from $21.5 billion to $22.3 billion, while its investment portfolio increased by approximately $700 million, from $16.6 billion to $17.3 billion.  

Macquarie outpaced all four major banks, two of which recorded mortgage book contractions in August.

Of the big four banks, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) recorded the strongest mortgage book growth ($1.3 billion), followed by ANZ ($500 million).

Meanwhile, Westpac and NAB recorded contractions of approximately $700 million and $100 million, respectively.

Growth in Macquarie’s mortgage portfolio has coincided with a strengthening of the bank’s presence in the third-party channel.

According to the Australian Finance Group’s (AFG) latest index – which is based off data collected from the aggregator’s network of 3,000 brokers – Macquarie’s share of home loans lodged in the third-party space doubled in the three months to 30 June 2019, rising from 4.9 per cent to 9.7 per cent.

As at 30 June, Macquarie – which relies almost solely on the broker channel to distribute its home loan products – ranked second overall in terms of its share of the third-party space, behind only the Commonwealth Bank.

All-round growth for non-majors

All five non-major lenders with the largest mortgage books recorded growth in August.

ING ($600 million), Bendigo and Adelaide Bank ($200 million), Suncorp Bank ($200 million) and BOQ ($100 million) also recorded portfolio growth, albeit less pronounced than Macquarie.  

Of the aforementioned lenders, ING continues to boast the largest mortgage book ($49.3 billion), followed by Suncorp ($43.4 billion), Bendigo and Adelaide Bank ($41.3 billion), Macquarie ($39.6 billion) and BOQ ($28.1 billion).

[Related: Home loan activity slows but set to soar]