There are other obvious indications that Macquarie Bank is ramping up its mortgage lending.
The Australian Financial Review reported this week that Macquarie Bank had almost doubled the number of business development managers (BDMs) from 13 to 21 who work with its mortgage broker distribution channel – not far below the average of 25 to 35 BDMs employed by the major banks.
Nearly all of Macquarie Bank’s mortgage lending is done through the mortgage broking channel.
In addition The AFR reports that Macquarie upped its commission to mortgage brokers last year.
Combine this with its competitive mortgage offerings and the bank has soared up the top lending charts of Australia’s biggest mortgage broking franchise, Mortgage Choice, accounting for 3.9% of home loans sold by Mortgage Choice in March, up from 2.5% in February.
Macquarie is now Mortgage Choice’s 8th biggest lender with CEO Michael Russell telling the AFR it has an “insatiable” appetite to expand home loans.
ING Direct reported a net profit after tax of $276.9 million for the 2012 calendar, down 9% from last year.
In June last year, Lisa Claes, executive director of direct business at ING Direct, told Property Observer the bank was not driven by market share targets, “but by a sustainable growth proposition”.
“We want to grow our mortgage book responsibly – we are happy with where we are, but we are not complacent,” she said.
ING Direct’s offers variable home loans starting from 5.66% (for loans greater than $250,000) and a three-year fixed home loan at 5.19%.
Macquarie Bank offers variable home loans starting from 5.44% (this includes a 1.01% discount off the standard variable) and a three-year fixed home loan at 5.39%.
This article first appeared on Property Observer.
