The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (
CBA) has announced it will not be accepting new refinance applications from investors starting from next week.
From 13 February, the bank will suspend new investment applications until further notice. Standalone investor applications submitted prior to this date will be processed as normal, CBA said in a note to brokers sent on Wednesday (8 February).
“Commonwealth Bank is committed to consistently delivering the best customer experience for home buyers, upholding the highest level of professional standards, and meeting our responsible lending and regulatory obligations,” the note said.
Applications which include both investor and owner occupier loans will not be impacted.
Martin North, principal of Digital Finance Analytics, hypothesised that CBA decided to put the brakes on its investment lending because it was nearing the 10% speed limit proposed by the
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
"Further evidence to our hypothesis that the regulator picked up the phone, and suggested they should trim their growth. It also shows that the remaining majors need to be a little careful, but there is headroom in the system to take up some of the slack."
This decision comes soon after CBA subsidiary
Bankwest announced
it too would halt all new applications from customers looking to refinance their standalone investment lending.
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