National Australia Bank (NAB) has launched a campaign to poach property-investor borrowers who have been turned away by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and its subsidiary, Bankwest.

NAB has told mortgage brokers and potential borrowers that it is still “accepting all new business, refinances and other home loan applications” in response to CBA’s clampdown on property-investment lending.

CBA recently announced it would start turning away property-investor customers from rival banks who want to refinance their loans. Similarly, Bankwest also announced it would be discontinuing property-investment lending to new customers.  

“You may be aware there's some movement in the market at the moment around lending appetite for certain customer segments,” Steve Kane, NAB’s general manager of distribution, told mortgage brokers. “I’d like to confirm that NAB remains committed to the broker channel, and that NAB remains open for business for both owner occupied and investor borrowers.”

Other banks and non-bank lenders are likely to follow NAB’s lead with special offers and bigger discounts in a bid to boost interest margins in the booming investment market.

Neither CBA nor Bankwest has provided a reason for their decision, but refer to “regulatory obligations.” This is widely considered to be a signal that they’re pulling back on lending because of concerns regarding breaches of APRA’s 10% lending speed limit, which is calculated on a monthly rolling basis.   

NAB has announced an annual fee waiver worth $395 on the NAB Choice Package as well as a $1,500 Home Loan cash back offer for customers who take out an NAB home loan and “banking bundle”.

Other banks, including SunCorp, are also attempting to woo more property-investor borrow ers by offering discounts of more than 100 basis points to new borrowers.
 

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