The big four banks managed to scrape a slightly higher proportion of home loans in the final month of 2013, but market share continues to track below historical levels.
According to the latest statistics by aggregator
AFG, the total proportion of home loans processed through the major banks in December rose 1.3% on November levels to 73.6%. The figure is still well below the majors’ 77.4% market share in December 2012, however.
Overall for the second half of 2013 major banks received 73.8% of market share, down from 77.5% in the first six months of the year.
The second half of 2013 was a strong period for the broker industry, with the volume of mortgages processed by AFG gaining 18.9% on the January to June figures, and 27% on the same period in 2012.
The growth was driven by strong investor interest, especially in NSW, as shown by a significant drop in LVRs across the country.
The AFG Mortgage Index shows that average LVRs fell to 67.3% in December, their lowest level since June 2012.
Mark Hewitt, AFG general manager of sales and operations says there is “no doubt that New South Wales was ‘Investment Central’ during the second half of 2013”.
“The dearth of first home buyers in NSW continues to be a long term concern. Even if investment activity levels in Sydney taper during 2014, elsewhere in the country we’re seeing solid, sustainable growth, with first home buyers underpinning the long-term health of the markets, especially in SA and WA.”
While the overall national picture shows very robust growth, significant differences were revealed between the different states. New South Wales showed the largest increase, with mortgage volumes in the second half of the year powering 33% above first half levels. In Victoria, the increase was 21%, Queensland 13%, Western Australia 8% and South Australia 6%.
