The Urban Developer
AdvertiseEventsWebinars
Urbanity
Awards
Sign In
Membership
Latest
Menu
Location
Sector
Category
Content
Type
Newsletters
FINAL CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR URBANITY-25 JOIN MORE THAN 550 ALREADY ATTENDING
LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR URBANITY 550+ ALREADY ATTENDING
REGISTER NOWDETAILS
TheUrbanDeveloper
Follow
About
About Us
Membership
Awards
Events
Webinars
Listings
Resources
Terms & Conditions
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Republishing Guidelines
Editorial Charter
Complaints Handling Policy
Contact
General Enquiries
Advertise
Contribution Enquiry
Project Submission
Membership Enquiry
Newsletter
Stay up to date and with the latest news, projects, deals and features.
Subscribe
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE
2
print
Print
OtherRenee McKeownThu 18 Jun 20

Banks Give $211bn in Loan Deferrals

768c2cf8-e3a2-4933-befb-8923d69c8b71

Banks have deferred the repayments of one in fourteen mortgages totalling more than $150 billion during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Figures released by the Australian Banking Association showed around 429,000 mortgages were deferred.

The figures take the total number of loans deferred to 703,000, a value of $211 billion including business loans.

Meanwhile new loans to owner-occupiers dropped 5 per cent further in April and new loans for investors also dropped 4.2 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The outlook for banks on lending was unclear as the Home Builder stimulus package, introduced at the start of June, was yet to affect lending figures.

In an earlier bid to curb the impact of Covid-19 on lending, the RBA cut the official cash rate to a historic low of 0.25 per cent in March, just as the unemployment rate started to rise.

Related: Home Builder⁠—The Property Industry Weighs In


Total loans deferred during Covid-19

^Source: Australian Banking Association

Australian Banking Association chief executive officer Anna Bligh said banks have seen a historic surge in demand for deferrals over the last few months.

“Australian families who are financially affected by this crisis have had the breathing space they need with a six month deferral on their home loan repayment while they chart a path through to the other side of this downturn,” Bligh said.

Bligh said to combat the increased stress for home-owners and lenders alike, banks hired 1500 new staff and redeployed over 2200 staff to frontline areas such as call centres.

However the ability to repay loans could be on the mend with the total number of payroll jobs finally on the up, increasing by 1 per cent in May compared the job losses seen in April.

ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said some of the industries most heavily impacted by Covid-19 showed slight recovery in payroll jobs through May.

“The latest data showed that the total payroll job losses since mid-March were greatest in the week ending 18 April (8.9 per cent) and had recovered to a 7.5 per cent loss by the end of May,” Jarvis said.

“Payroll jobs worked by females increased by 1.4 per cent through May, compared with 0.4 per cent for males. However, total female job losses since mid-March were still greater (8.0 per cent, compared to 6.3 per cent for men).”

OtherResidentialOfficeAustraliaFinanceOther
AUTHOR
Renee McKeown
More articles by this author
ADVERTISEMENT
TOP STORIES
Warren and Mahoney Western Bulldogs Women's Health and Leadership Hub HERO
Exclusive

Beyond the Boys’ Club: Inclusive Architecture Disrupting Sporting Precincts

Leon Della Bosca
7 Min
Exclusive

Inside the $10m Heritage Refit of Sydney’s $25,000-a-Year Members’ Club

Taryn Paris
4 Min
Kurraba Point 93 Kurraba Road TUD PLUS
Residential

Council Over Court: How HFO Won Rare North Sydney Approval

Vanessa Croll
7 Min
Exclusive

Why Sentinel is Betting Big on Olympic City Office Sector

Phil Bartsch
5 Min
The Port of Brisbane has released its Vision 2060 which details the need for inland rail connectivity
Infrastructure

Brisbane Port’s $15bn Future Faces One Big Obstacle

Renee McKeown
5 Min
View All >
Development

Zen Group’s West End Towers Greenlit

Taryn Paris
Warren and Mahoney Western Bulldogs Women's Health and Leadership Hub HERO
Exclusive

Beyond the Boys’ Club: Inclusive Architecture Disrupting Sporting Precincts

Leon Della Bosca
An aerial view of Ipswich, whose suburb Springfield Lakes, had the highest number of house sales for Queensland in Q2, 2025.
Residential

Ipswich Suburb Leads Queensland House Sales

Marisa Wikramanayake
A quiet dark horse in the race, Ipswich's Springfield Lakes has now topped Queensland's house sales list for the second …
LATEST
Development

Zen Group’s West End Towers Greenlit

Taryn Paris
2 Min
Warren and Mahoney Western Bulldogs Women's Health and Leadership Hub HERO
Exclusive

Beyond the Boys’ Club: Inclusive Architecture Disrupting Sporting Precincts

Leon Della Bosca
7 Min
An aerial view of Ipswich, whose suburb Springfield Lakes, had the highest number of house sales for Queensland in Q2, 2025.
Residential

Ipswich Suburb Leads Queensland House Sales

Marisa Wikramanayake
5 Min
Goldfields Kyneton Central Edgecombe Road precinct rendering
Development

Goldfields Forges Ahead on $150m Kyneton Central Hub

Leon Della Bosca
3 Min
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/banks-give-211bn-in-loan-deferrals-