By Gareth Vaughan
ASB saw its share of the home loan market fall in the year to June, but the bank's managing director Barbara Chapman says she isn't concerned about this.
Figures released by ASB's parent Commonwealth Bank of Australia in its annual results yesterday showed ASB's share of the New Zealand home loan market at 21.9% at June 30, down from 22.1% six months earlier, and down 40 basis points from 22.3% at June 30 last year.
And ASB's June year general disclosure statement shows June quarter net growth in its home loan book of $290 million, or about 0.7%, to $41.817 billion. Over the year to June ASB grew home loans by $1.533 billion, or 3.8%, below the 5.2% June year growth recorded in the Reserve Bank's sector credit housing loan data.
"We have seen a fraction drop down in our home lending marketshare," Chapman told interest.co.nz.
"I'm not at all concerned about that. We've been very much looking after our customer base and doing the right thing there. There are some deals in the market that we've just decided that's not a position in the market that we want to take, and so we've played a very even game through the competitiveness of the market as the year has gone through," she said.
In terms of its high loan-to-value ratio (LVR) lending, Chapman said ASB was sitting at 6% to 6.5%, comfortably under the Reserve Bank's 10% limit.
"From the peak of where we were in terms of high LVR lending, our peak was at about 23.5% of our book, it has come down now to about 21.1% which is actually quite a rapid change in a relatively short space of time," Chapman said.
As of June 30, 21.08% of ASB's home loan book, or $8.816 billion, was at LVRs above 80%, down from 21.97% at March 30. It was at 23.5% on the eve of the LVR restrictions' introduction last September.
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3 Comments
I recall a year or so ago I rang asb to enquire about a home loan (I do this from time to time to gauge current lending practices, to see if they are lending at 5% dep etc, or if they have tightened).
They were keen to go well under 20% deposit. Until I told them I was not looking in Auckland. Then they got cold on me.
So it's pretty clear the price movements in auckland are a direct results of banks deciding to lend aggresively to auckland only, which stokes the prices up, fueling more buying pressure.
At this point in the cycle, this changes, as prices in auckland become stretched and the risk is now to the down side.
With other areas, eg wellington, being half price or more cheaper than auckland, I wonder if the banks will collectively decide to move their aggressive lending away from auckland and so cause the ripple effect that people often talk about. By hitting each area separately they can create individual markets where prices move abruptly higher, stoking equity increases and more buying pressure in that area.
Just a matter of time before they flick the switch and move the ponzi scheme to a town near you... I suggest ringing your local banker and getting the inside info on how keen they are to lend over under 20% in your town.
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