ANZ beats CBA as major lenders' market share falls: AFG

Major lenders' grip on the home loan market loosened last month, according to mortgage broker AFG.

In September, loans from major lenders accounted for 73.3% of all home loans processed. Last month, that figure dipped to 71.7%.

ANZ, however, managed to increase the proportion of total loans it processed for the month, knocking the Commonwealth Bank off the top spot. After processing 16.9% of all home loans in September, ANZ increased their market share to 17.6% for October. The Commonwealth Bank accounted for 16.8% of October loans, down from 17.1% in September.

Overall, non-major lenders increased their market share, particularly with loans to refinancers.

In October one in three refinances used a non-major lender, according to AFG.

While 28.3% of all new mortgages processed last month were made with non-major lenders, 34% of last month's refinancers chose to forgo the major banks.

Among the non-major lenders, Suncorp had the largest share of refinancing loans in October, with 10.3%. Macquarie Bank was the second most popular non-major lender with refinancers, processing 7.5% of all refinancing loans for the month.

Of the major lenders, Westpac processed the most refinancing loans, with a 8.8% share.

AFG's general manager of sales and operations Mark Hewitt says borrowers' increasing willingness to consider minor lenders is "very encouraging from a competition perspective."

"Suncorp are a great example of this," says Hewitt.

"Traditionally they have struggled outside their home state of Queensland however through delivering on a combination of customer value and  service they have reached an all-time market share high of 8.2%."

Among first home buyers, major lenders still dominate, processing 69.1% of all October loans. Keystart, the Western Australian government-backed initiative, was the biggest non-market lender, with 10.3% of market share. Bank of Queensland was the favourite commercial non-major lender among first time buyers, processing 6.0% of the loans.

Bankwest, ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the Bank of South Australia, Bank of Melbourne, St George, Westpac, NAB Broker and NAB are all considered major lenders by AFG.