Of Commonwealth Bank's $556 billion home lending portfolio, $170b is new lending approved in the past 12 months. 

Three quarters, or $127.5b, of that figure was for variable-rate home loans as opposed to fixed-rate borrowing.

This is a sharp turnaround from six months ago when variable-rate loans made up 53% of new lending.

CBA attributes this to sharp interest rate rises to fixed-rate home loans, as seen in the the graph below.

CommBank home loan customers have amassed $64 billion in offset accounts, an increase of $7b compared to the previous financial year.

More than one third (34%) of borrowers are two-years or more ahead on their home loan repayments; 22% are on-time, of which 5% are new loans originated in the six months to June 2022.

This is amid a net profit of $9.7b, up 9% over the year.

Interest rate rises point to some challenges

The percentage of home loan customers borrowing at their capacity has increased from 8.3% six months ago to 8.7% in June.

The bank attributes this to rising serviceability buffers and interest rates.

When CBA's standard variable rate is taken into account, the total buffer rate in June was 8.30%, an increase from 7.55% six months ago, and 7.05% a year ago.

The average loan size has also decreased from $399,000 six months ago to $375,000 in June.

Sharp interest rate rises have led to some lending executives calling on borrowers to refinance now before they become 'mortgage prisoners'.

CBA has $22b worth of fixed-rate home loans expiring by the end of 2022, by which point bank economists forecast the RBA cash rate to hit 2.60%.

The bank also has up to $117b in fixed-rate loans expiring by the end of 2023.

Strong deposit growth but RBA still has finger in pie

Approximately three-quarters (74%) of CommBank's $927b in funding is made up of deposits ($686b), of which $351b is from households.

One-fifth of wholesale funding, or $51b, is from the RBA's Term Funding Facility, due to expire mid-2023.

CBA says it will deal with this funding fallout over the next three financial years.

Over the past year, there has been a 24% increase in the number of transaction accounts, up from 902,000 to 1.12 million in June.

Of the retail deposit mix, $109b is in transaction accounts, $122b in savings and investments, and $101b in online savings accounts.

Off the back of the RBA's latest cash rate increase, CBA increased its NetBank saver to 0.85% p.a. while its SmartAccess transaction account earns nothing.

This is against a backdrop of some of the highest-earning savings accounts earning in excess of 3.00% p.a. while transaction accounts accrue up to 2.25% p.a. interest.

CBA chief Matt Comyn pointed to the resilience of Australian households and the economy.

"Many of our customers have been impacted by devastating natural disasters and rising cost of living pressures. Around the world geopolitical tensions have created additional uncertainty in financial markets," Mr Comyn said.

“It is a challenging time but we remain optimistic that a path can be found to navigate through these economic conditions. We remain of the view that the medium term outlook for Australia is a positive one."



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