In December APRA drew a line in the sand for property investment loan lending in which it declared it would consider raising capital charges for any bank growing its investor mortgage book above 10%. Well, time to act, APRA, from the AFR:
NAB’s growth was led by loans to investors, which grew 2 per cent above APRA’s cap at 12.4 per cent, twice its loan growth to owner-occupiers.
…Macquarie Bank has recorded by far the fastest growth in home lending of any institution…For the year to December, its loans to owner-occupiers rose by 62 per cent and to investors by 107 per cent. However, the growth rate is slowing now with owner-occupier home loans up 2.13 per cent and investor loans up 3.14 per cent. This compares to a monthly average growth of 5.16 per cent for owner-occupiers and 8.9 per cent for investor loans.
Perhaps APRA’s challenge is already working. Other banks needing a firm hand include Arab Bank, Bank of China, Defence Bank and Teachers Mutual Bank, all growing above system.