CBA boosts home loan lending as home loans hits record $352,000

CBA currently has deferred repayments on 135,000, or eight per cent, of its home loans.

It covers $48 billion of loans.

It was 154,00 home loan deferrals at the COVID-19 peak.

There were 250,000 deferred loans all up, as 15 per cent of its business loans are also deferred totalling $14 billion in deferrals.

But its recent home lending has proved resilient, rising by 1.3 times the average of the system, or $18.4 billion over the year.

There was $100 billion in new home lending, with just 25 percent going to investors.

It equated to four per cent volume growth.

The average home loan was at a record $352,000, up from $317,000 a year ago.

Home loan arrears sit at low levels.

Some 40 percent of CBA borrowers are one year or more in advance in their payments.

The portfolio LVR remained stable.

It advised 70 percent of its book originated under tighter lending standards adopted in 2016.

The book has split 68 percent with owner occupiers; 30 percent investors and 2 percent with a line of credit.

Some 16 percent are on interest only loans, down from 22 percent a year ago.

Revenue was up two per cent over the year to $23.9 billion after CBA was flooded with new deposits, with deposits now providing 74 per cent of total funding, up from 69 per cent over the past year.

"We anticipate that lower credit growth and low interest rates will continue to put pressure on our revenue, requiring a focus on performance, efficiency and capital allocation," the CBA CEO Matt Comyn said.

"Despite the challenging environment, operational performance in the business remains strong. Combined with our strong balance sheet and capital position, this enables us to continue supporting customers and the economy."

Commonwealth Bank has announced an 11.3 per cent drop in full-year cash profit to $7.3 billion as it ramped up provisions against loan losses. 

It will pay a 98¢ final dividend.

The full-year dividend of $2.98 per share, fully-franked, is down 31 per cent on 2019.

Analysts had been expecting a final dividend of 92¢ cents, the lowest final dividend since 2006.

CBA’s shares have been trading at 6.5 per cent lower so far this year.

The other banking majors will provide investors third-quarter updates over the coming week.