Westpac loaded up on home loans in the Dec Qtr after a quiet period

Westpac charged back into the mortgage market in the December quarter, lending a net $874.4 million in new housing loans after a quiet September quarter when it lent just $88.2 million in new housing loans, according to the Reserve Bank's bank financial strength dashboard.

Friday, March 1st 2024, 12:06PM

That made Westpac the second largest player in the market in the latest quarter behind only ANZ Bank NZ which lent a net $1.26 billion in new loans, although that was a pullback from $1.49 billion in the September quarter.

ANZ, the largest bank, was by far the biggest mortgage lender in calendar 2023 with a net $4.23 billion in new loans, well in front of the next largest lender, Bank of New Zealand with $2.77 billion. BNZ's new home loans in the December quarter were a net $652.8 million.

Westpac's net new mortgage lending for the year was $1.5 billion.

ANZ's market share grew from 30.31% to 30.47% over the year, Westpac's fell from 19.23% to 19.01% and BNZ's grew from 16.48% to 16.72%.

As we already knew from their first-half results released last month, the government-owned Kiwibank was a large presence in the market during the December quarter, while ASB's mortgage book went backwards for a second successive quarter.

Kiwibank was the third largest lender in the quarter with a net $737.1 million in net new loans, taking its net new mortgage lending to $1.74 billion for calendar 2023 and making it the third largest player for the year as well.

Kiwibank's market share by year's end was 7.4%, up from 7.14% a year earlier.

ASB's mortgage book shrank by $312 million in the December quarter after shrinking by $152.2 million in the June quarter.

For calendar year, ASB's book grew a meagre $146.4 million and its market share fell from 21.72% to 21.02%.

ASB's market share loss clearly reflected its decision to charge above-market interest rates.

Its current rates are much more “in the middle of the pack”, with its six-month rate of 7.39% matching the six-month rates of BNZ, Kiwibank, Westpac, TSB and Co-operative Bank, although above ANZ's 7.35%.

ASB's one-year fixed rate now is also 7.39%, matching TSB and ANZ but above Kiwibank's 7.35% and the 7.29% offered by BNZ, Co-operative Bank and Westpac.

Tags: Westpac