Which banks did the most lending in 1st quarter; and who slowed down
Kiwibank appeared to take its foot off the accelerator on mortgage lending in the March quarter after a string of quarters of lending above its market share which reached almost 8% at March 31.
Friday, June 5th 2026, 9:13AM
by Jenny Ruth
The latest figures provided in the Reserve Bank’s bank financial strength dashboard showed Kiwibank’s lending slowed to $385 million in the three months ended March compared with the $860.5 million of new mortgage lending shown for the December quarter of last year.
That meant Kiwibank accounted for 7.5% of total net new bank mortgage lending in the latest three months.
However, having lent $2.5 billion on mortgages for the year ended March, Kiwibank still accounted for 11% of total net new annual mortgage lending, well exceeding its market share.
Asked to explain the slowdown, Kiwibank said its underlying performance remains strong.
“On housing, January and February are typically the quietest months,” a Kiwibank spokesman said.
“We also saw a lag from elevated December refinancing across the sector, with some settlements pushed into the March quarter, affecting how the numbers compare,” he said.
“From March, Kiwibank activity returned to more normal levels, tracking at around 1.5x system pace. At the same time, our customers were paying down their home loans faster than the market, building equity sooner and reducing long-term interest costs,” he said.
ASB Bank’s mortgage lending also slowed a little in the latest quarter to below $1.04 billion, or 20.1% of net new lending, compared with $1.54 million in the December quarter, while its net new lending for the year ended March of $5.58 billion accounted for 25% of net new annual bank lending compared with its market share at March 31 of 21.2%.
ANZ continued to bleed market share, ending at 29.6% at March 31.
ANZ’s $1.04 billion of net new lending in the March quarter accounted for 24.2% of total new bank lending on mortgages while its $5.26 billion of new lending for the year accounted for 23.1% of total net new bank mortgage lending in the 12 months ended March.
BNZ, on the other hand, increased its share of mortgage lending in the latest quarter, ending the three months with 16.8% of the market.
That’s despite BNZ’s iffy attitude towards loan origination by mortgage advisers and its obvious preference for writing its own new home loans.
BNZ lent $1.23 billion in net new mortgages in the latest three months, 23.9% of total new bank lending, and $4.06 billion in the year ended March or 17.9% of total new bank lending.
Westpac lent $840.2 million on net new mortgages in the latest quarter and $3.83 billion in the year ended March when its market shaw was 18.5%.
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