During 2020 the NSW Residential Mortgage Market has seen 14% annual growth in mortgages registered on NSW residential titles. This growth has been predominantly driven by refinancing activity which grew 22% over the course of the year. A competitive refinance market saw gains concentrated among a smaller number of lenders, resulting in substantial changes to market share.
Lenders such as Macquarie Bank and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank continued to record solid refinancing gains throughout 2020, whist ANZ executed a significant turnaround in performance during Covid-19 and dominated the NSW residential refinance market for the remainder of the year.
In December 2020, refinance volumes continue to remain strong, however activity has softened relative to the mid-year refinancing peak. Although December 2020 has seen Major Banks landing at a net negative refinancing position, they have improved on the levels recorded pre Covid-19.
In contrast, Other Domestic banks have recorded a net positive refinancing position for every month in 2020.
December 2020 has also recorded the largest net gain in newly originated mortgages for over 24 months, up 25.9% on December 2019.
- CBA recorded the largest annual increase in newly originated mortgages by adding an additional 5,200 mortgages in 2020 compared to 2019.
- Both ANZ and Bank of Queensland recorded a 25% annual increase in newly originated mortgages.
- Beyond Bank wrote 2.2 times as many newly originated mortgages in 2020 compared to 2019.
Director of Analytics and Insights at NSW Land Registry Services, Jerry Goldfried, said December has recorded record volumes of mortgage activity against residential titles in NSW.
“In a year like no other, trends were disrupted – particularly for emerging Non-ADI lenders,” said Goldfried.
“There have since been early indicators of a rebound for some lenders in the closing months of 2020. Given that mid-year mortgage activity was impacted as NSW property buyers navigated Covid-19, it is encouraging to see December close out so strongly.”
A variety of lenders have recorded overall mortgage volume growth in 2020 with ANZ and CBA leading the Major Banks, Macquarie dominating Other Domestic bank performance and Regional Australia Bank pulling ahead in the Customer Owned banking segment.
Other Domestic banks continue to outperform all segments and reached new highs recording the largest monthly net total result.
The NSW LRS Analytics and Insights team analyses all new and refinanced mortgages held against residential properties registered on the NSW Land Title Registry. Newly published data from December 2020 compares the past month’s results with yearly trends.
Download the
December Residential Mortgage Activity report.
Residential Mortgage Activity Report from NSW LRS
NSW Land Registry Services hold the most comprehensive title data bank in Australia. We are in a unique position to offer readers a complete view of changes to the NSW property market. Our data solution is designed to assist users understand changes in the mortgage market.
In-depth reporting on mortgage changes for specific lenders and locational data e.g. postcode or even Statistical Area Level 1 is available through a new subscription service, Mortgage Share Insights. For specific queries about Mortgage Share Insights please contact the team at
liaison@nswlrs.com.au