Melbourne’s CBD has emerged as NAB’s leading entrepreneurial hotspot, with postcode 3000 recording the strongest growth in new business account openings in the year to 30 September. Sydney’s CBD (2000) and Melbourne’s western corridor covering Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit and Truganina (3029) ranked second and third.
This surge in activity coincides with NAB increasing small‑business lending 9.2% to $13 billion over the past year, reinforcing the opportunity set for brokers working with self‑employed and SME borrowers.
NAB Executive for Small Business Krissie Jones (pictured left) said growth is not confined to traditional city cores.
“Small businesses are the engine room of Australia’s economy, and our data reveals hot spots from growth corridors to CBDs and a regional hub,” Jones said in a media release.
NAB data shows professional services and transport are driving much of the momentum in key districts.
According to the bank, legal and accounting firms are expanding strongly in the Melbourne and Sydney CBDs, while the so‑called “golden triangle” of Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit, and Truganina is seeing rising numbers of road freight transport operators, supported by freeway access and comparatively affordable rents and land.
NAB’s latest Monthly Business Survey shows business confidence fell 5pts and conditions eased 3pts in November, unwinding some gains from recent months. Despite that pullback, capacity utilisation rose again to 83.6%, an 18‑month high and more than 2 percentage points above its long‑run average – signalling a capacity‑constrained economy rather than one with significant slack.
“While the November result shows a break in the recent positive momentum in the survey, business conditions remain well above their early 2025 levels,” NAB chief economist Sally Auld (pictured right) said.
The fall in confidence, however, takes the measure “back to more subdued levels early in the year”, with softness broad‑based across sectors.
Even as trading, profitability, and forward orders eased, capacity utilisation remains elevated in most industries, and purchase cost growth lifted to 1.3% in quarterly equivalent terms. That combination keeps pressure on margins and suggests that if growth accelerates, price pressures could re‑emerge quickly.
NAB reports it banks “one in four Aussie SMEs and one in three agribusinesses” and is seeing continued appetite to expand.
Jones said small‑business customers remain resilient and ambitious, with capacity running high and deposits growing faster than the system.
“That means investing, hiring and planning to grow,” she said.
For brokers, the leading business postcodes – Melbourne CBD (3000), Sydney CBD (2000) and Melbourne’s western growth belt (3029 and nearby suburbs) – are prime catchments for:
Focusing on these entrepreneurial areas, and tailoring credit advice to SMEs operating in a high‑utilisation, cost‑pressured environment, can help brokers tap resilient small‑business demand even as headline confidence cools.
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