The major bank had the largest monthly growth in owner-occupied lending of all banks in November 2025, according to new stats from APRA.
New statistics from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) have confirmed that mortgage lending to Australian households grew dramatically in 2025, with monthly banking statistics for November 2025 showing that both investor and owner-occupied lending were growing strongly over the month.
Overall, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Macquarie Bank Limited (Macquarie) both cemented their positions as the primary engines of housing credit growth in November 2025, but major bank Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) staged a notable comeback in the owner-occupied sector.
According to the monthly Authorised Deposit-taking Institution Statistics publication from APRA, released on Friday (2 January), Westpac emerged as the monthly champion for owner-occupied lending, growing its book by $2.60 billion in just 30 days.
This performance saw Westpac leapfrog CBA, which recorded $2.32 billion in owner-occupied growth for the month, and National Australia Bank (NAB), which rounded out the third spot with $2.27 billion in monthly growth.
Westpac’s surge in owner-occupied borrowing in November may be the result of refreshed pricing strategies and a focus on high-quality borrower retention. It had one of the lowest online home loan rates among the majors in November (its featured rate on its online-only Flexi First Option home loan was [and still is] advertised at 5.24 per cent [comparison 5.24 per cent]).
However, the bank is increasingly targeting mortgage growth through its proprietary and online channels, as are most of the major banks.
Investor surge
The APRA data also confirms that investor lending was growing rapidly at the banks in November, reflecting a broader trend.
Over the year to November 2025, CBA and Macquarie were the only lenders to see double-digit billion-dollar growth in investment lending. CBA led the way with $18.30 billion, followed by Macquarie at $12.78 billion. The gap to the remaining majors was substantial. Westpac grew its investor book by $6.40 billion over the year, while ANZ and NAB followed with $4.51 billion and $4.12 billion, respectively.
The monthly data echoes this trend. Between October and November 2025, CBA added $2.29 billion in investor loans, while Macquarie added $1.63 billion.
Outside of the big four and Macquarie, ING Bank (Australia) was the best of the rest in the investor space, adding $378 million to its book in November.
Overall, in the 12 months leading up to November 2025, CBA solidified its status as the nation’s largest lender, with $37.38 billion in total mortgage growth. This growth was balanced almost equally between owner-occupiers and investors, reflecting the bank’s broad-based appeal and aggressive retention strategies in a competitive refinancing environment.
November also saw the continued ascent of Macquarie Bank (which could soon be classed as a major bank), which added $31.03 billion to its total book over the year ending November 2025.
Macquarie’s performance in the owner-occupied space was particularly potent, contributing $18.25 billion to its total, nearly matching CBA’s $19.10 billion in the same category.
To put this in perspective, Macquarie’s annual growth was significantly higher than that of Westpac ($18.89 billion), NAB ($17.67 billion), and ANZ ($14.3 billion), albeit from a much lower base. Macquarie’s mortgage book of around $161 billion is around half the size of the nearest big four bank (ANZ).
Beyond the big banks, several non-major lenders carved out significant growth paths in November.
Bank Australia was a standout performer over the last 12 months. Starting from a total housing base of $8.79 billion in November 2024, the bank grew its total book to $15.99 billion by November 2025 – a total annual increase of $7.20 billion. However, this was mostly driven by acquisitions (such as the merger with Qudos Bank).
ING Australia also maintained its position as an increasingly aggressive competitor, growing its total book by $8.27 billion over the year, driven by a relatively even split between owner-occupiers ($4.19 billion) and investors ($4.08 billion). It continues to hold its title as the sixth-largest mortgage bank in the country,
[Related: Investor lending surges to record high]
