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Answers / Banking & Financial Stability

How exposed are Australian banks to housing?

Ask this yourself

Show me how much of Australian banks' lending is secured against housing, how that compares with banks in Britain, Canada and the United States, and what house prices are doing.

Residential real estate is 65.0 per cent of the loan total the IMF pairs with it at March 2026 — the highest of the nine economies compared, and nearly double Canada's 34.2 per cent. Adding commercial property takes it to 74.7 per cent. Against the IMF's larger standalone loan total the residential share is 53.2 per cent.

Residential real estate, share of the paired loan total
65.0%
Mar 2026 · highest of the nine economies compared
Commercial real estate, share of the paired loan total
9.6%
Mar 2026 · 74.7% of lending is property in total
Loans to the domestic economy
72.0%
Mar 2026 · 25.9% to other advanced economies, 2.1% to emerging markets
House prices, year to March 2026
+10.0%
Mar 2026, BIS year-ended change · +5.7% on the BIS inflation-adjusted series

1. Two-thirds residential, three-quarters property

The residential share rose from 54.6 per cent when the series begins in 2008 to a peak of 66.0 per cent in September 2021, and has sat between 65 and 66 per cent since. It was 65.0 per cent at March 2026, with commercial property adding 9.6 points. Everything Australian banks lend to business, government, other banks and consumers outside and commercial property fits into the remaining quarter. Whether that concentration is a vulnerability is not something these shares alone can settle.

Real estate lending as a share of Australian bank loans

Deposit-takers, share of the total gross loans the IMF pairs with each indicator

  • Residential real estate
  • Commercial real estate

Per cent of total gross loans · Quarter

International Monetary Fund. Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI), Core and Additional Indicators, IMF.STA:FSIC(13.0.1), https://data.imf.org/en/Data-Explorer?datasetUrn=IMF.STA:FSI. Accessed on 15 September 2026. Used under the IMF Copyright and Usage Terms — all rights reserved; not a Creative Commons licence. Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI), Core and Additional Indicators

Show the numbers
Real estate lending as a share of Australian bank loans
QuarterResidential real estateCommercial real estate
2006-Q157.010.6
2006-Q256.4—
2006-Q357.010.7
2006-Q456.7—
2007-Q156.411.0
2007-Q256.2—
2007-Q355.211.9
2007-Q454.4—
2008-Q154.612.0
2008-Q254.9—
2008-Q355.012.3
2008-Q456.312.7
2009-Q156.912.9
2009-Q258.512.4
2009-Q359.512.4
2009-Q460.111.7
2010-Q160.611.1
2010-Q261.010.8
2010-Q361.910.6
2010-Q462.410.3
2011-Q162.510.1
2011-Q263.19.8
2011-Q362.69.5
2011-Q462.79.5
2012-Q162.99.3
2012-Q262.99.3
2012-Q361.69.3
2012-Q462.49.2
2013-Q162.49.1
2013-Q262.39.0
2013-Q362.48.9
2013-Q462.08.8
2014-Q162.08.8
2014-Q262.38.7
2014-Q362.18.7
2014-Q462.08.6
2015-Q161.68.6
2015-Q262.18.5
2015-Q362.08.4
2015-Q462.28.4
2016-Q162.48.8
2016-Q262.68.6
2016-Q362.98.6
2016-Q463.18.3
2017-Q163.68.4
2017-Q263.68.1
2017-Q363.78.1
2017-Q463.78.0
2018-Q163.88.0
2018-Q263.78.0
2018-Q363.58.0
2018-Q463.37.9
2019-Q163.58.0
2019-Q263.77.9
2019-Q363.67.8
2019-Q463.87.7
2020-Q163.07.9
2020-Q264.18.0
2020-Q365.28.1
2020-Q465.78.0
2021-Q166.08.0
2021-Q266.08.1
2021-Q366.08.0
2021-Q465.88.0
2022-Q165.48.4
2022-Q264.98.6
2022-Q364.98.3
2022-Q465.18.3
2023-Q165.58.0
2023-Q265.68.6
2023-Q365.68.9
2023-Q465.89.0
2024-Q165.89.0
2024-Q265.69.0
2024-Q366.09.0
2024-Q465.59.0
2025-Q165.79.2
2025-Q265.69.4
2025-Q365.79.4
2025-Q465.19.6
2026-Q165.09.6

2. No economy compared here is close

Switzerland, the next highest, is 13.2 points behind at 51.9 per cent, Canada is at 34.2 and the United States at 27.7. Each economy is shown at its own latest quarter, so Switzerland and the United States are a quarter behind Australia. How much of the gap is lending behaviour and how much is leaving the banking system through or agency purchase is not measured by this indicator, and this page does not estimate it.

Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, latest quarter

Deposit-takers; latest available quarter shown against each economy

  • Australia (2026-Q1)
  • Canada (2026-Q1)
  • Other series (7)

Per cent of total gross loans · Economy

International Monetary Fund. Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI), Core and Additional Indicators, IMF.STA:FSIC(13.0.1), https://data.imf.org/en/Data-Explorer?datasetUrn=IMF.STA:FSI. Accessed on 15 September 2026. Used under the IMF Copyright and Usage Terms — all rights reserved; not a Creative Commons licence. Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI), Core and Additional Indicators

Show the numbers
Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, latest quarter
EconomyAustralia (2026-Q1)Switzerland (2025-Q4)United Kingdom (2026-Q1)Sweden (2025-Q4)Netherlands (2026-Q1)Canada (2026-Q1)Germany (2026-Q1)United States (2025-Q4)Korea (2024-Q2)
Australia65.1————————
Switzerland—51.9———————
United Kingdom——49.1——————
Sweden———42.9—————
Netherlands————42.4————
Canada—————34.2———
Germany——————29.8——
United States———————27.7—
Korea————————15.1

3. And it is not diversified abroad either

Seventy-two per cent of lending goes to borrowers in Australia at March 2026, with 25.9 per cent to other advanced economies and 2.1 per cent to emerging and developing economies. The three shares are the IMF's own and sum to one hundred. A loan book concentrated in one country and one asset class has less scope to offset a domestic shock, though nothing on this page measures how the exposures would behave together.

Geographic distribution of Australian bank loans

Deposit-takers, share of total lending by borrower location

  • Domestic economy
  • Other advanced economies
  • Other series

Per cent of total lending · Quarter

International Monetary Fund. Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI), Core and Additional Indicators, IMF.STA:FSIC(13.0.1), https://data.imf.org/en/Data-Explorer?datasetUrn=IMF.STA:FSI. Accessed on 15 September 2026. Used under the IMF Copyright and Usage Terms — all rights reserved; not a Creative Commons licence. Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI), Core and Additional Indicators

Show the numbers
Geographic distribution of Australian bank loans
QuarterDomestic economyOther advanced economiesEmerging and developing economies
2006-Q171.127.71.2
2006-Q270.228.51.3
2006-Q370.128.71.2
2006-Q470.028.81.3
2007-Q169.529.21.3
2007-Q269.229.51.3
2007-Q370.428.51.1
2007-Q468.830.21.00
2008-Q170.228.51.3
2008-Q271.727.21.1
2008-Q369.629.21.1
2008-Q469.030.01.0
2009-Q170.528.41.1
2009-Q271.227.90.92
2009-Q372.226.80.94
2009-Q472.226.90.95
2010-Q173.025.91.0
2010-Q271.827.01.3
2010-Q372.825.91.2
2010-Q472.725.91.3
2011-Q173.525.01.5
2011-Q272.925.51.6
2011-Q371.226.91.9
2011-Q472.225.82.0
2012-Q172.425.62.0
2012-Q271.726.22.2
2012-Q372.525.42.2
2012-Q471.326.52.2
2013-Q172.025.52.6
2013-Q269.827.42.8
2013-Q370.726.52.8
2013-Q469.327.92.8
2014-Q170.127.02.9
2014-Q270.327.02.7
2014-Q370.027.13.0
2014-Q468.428.53.1
2015-Q167.929.03.0
2015-Q268.528.23.2
2015-Q368.827.83.4
2015-Q468.128.53.4
2016-Q171.025.73.2
2016-Q270.726.23.1
2016-Q371.525.62.9
2016-Q470.226.92.8
2017-Q171.725.62.6
2017-Q271.425.92.6
2017-Q372.425.02.5
2017-Q472.525.02.4
2018-Q172.724.82.5
2018-Q272.225.32.5
2018-Q372.824.72.5
2018-Q471.925.62.4
2019-Q172.824.62.6
2019-Q272.724.62.6
2019-Q372.724.92.4
2019-Q471.626.02.4
2020-Q169.527.92.6
2020-Q271.526.12.4
2020-Q372.025.62.5
2020-Q471.626.42.0
2021-Q173.724.51.7
2021-Q273.225.11.6
2021-Q373.125.21.6
2021-Q472.226.21.6
2022-Q172.925.51.6
2022-Q272.825.51.7
2022-Q372.825.51.7
2022-Q472.426.11.6
2023-Q172.325.81.9
2023-Q272.425.72.0
2023-Q372.126.01.9
2023-Q471.726.41.9
2024-Q172.425.62.0
2024-Q272.125.92.0
2024-Q372.525.61.9
2024-Q471.326.42.3
2025-Q171.526.42.1
2025-Q271.626.42.0
2025-Q372.125.92.0
2025-Q471.226.72.1
2026-Q172.025.92.1

4. The collateral is still appreciating

Australian residential property prices rose 10.0 per cent over the year to March 2026, and 5.7 per cent on the BIS inflation-adjusted series. Rising collateral values reduce loan-to-valuation ratios on existing loans without any repayment. This page carries no arrears, provisioning or loan-to-valuation series, so it does not show what a fall in prices would do to any of them; the mortgage-arrears page covers the arrears measures.

Australian residential property prices

Year-ended change, nominal and inflation-adjusted

  • Nominal
  • Inflation-adjusted

Per cent change on a year earlier · Quarter

Source: Bank for International Settlements, Selected residential property prices (BIS:WS_SPP). Extracted 2026-09-15. Reproduced under the BIS Terms of Permitted Use of BIS Statistics; this is not an official BIS publication and the BIS does not endorse it. Selected residential property prices

Show the numbers
Australian residential property prices
QuarterNominalInflation-adjusted
2000-Q19.6%6.6%
2000-Q29.7%6.4%
2000-Q37.5%1.3%
2000-Q46.6%0.75%
2001-Q17.0%0.87%
2001-Q28.2%2.0%
2001-Q314.0%11.3%
2001-Q415.5%12.0%
2002-Q117.3%14.0%
2002-Q220.0%16.8%
2002-Q318.9%15.2%
2002-Q418.7%15.4%
2003-Q117.5%13.7%
2003-Q216.8%13.9%
2003-Q318.8%15.8%
2003-Q418.9%16.1%
2004-Q115.3%13.0%
2004-Q28.3%5.7%
2004-Q32.3%0.04%
2004-Q40.28%-2.2%
2005-Q10.56%-1.8%
2005-Q22.3%-0.21%
2005-Q32.1%-0.94%
2005-Q42.4%-0.44%
2006-Q13.6%0.68%
2006-Q26.6%2.6%
2006-Q38.7%4.6%
2006-Q48.6%5.1%
2007-Q18.3%5.7%
2007-Q29.2%7.0%
2007-Q311.1%9.1%
2007-Q413.3%10.1%
2008-Q112.8%8.2%
2008-Q27.0%2.5%
2008-Q31.0%-3.8%
2008-Q4-4.0%-7.4%
2009-Q1-4.6%-6.9%
2009-Q20.22%-1.2%
2009-Q36.8%5.6%
2009-Q414.3%12.0%
2010-Q118.1%14.8%
2010-Q215.6%12.1%
2010-Q39.6%6.5%
2010-Q44.4%1.6%
2011-Q10.39%-2.8%
2011-Q2-2.2%-5.6%
2011-Q3-2.7%-5.9%
2011-Q4-4.1%-6.8%
2012-Q1-2.6%-4.2%
2012-Q2-1.6%-2.7%
2012-Q30.00%-2.0%
2012-Q43.0%0.80%
2013-Q13.1%0.58%
2013-Q25.3%2.8%
2013-Q38.1%5.8%
2013-Q410.0%7.0%
2014-Q110.8%7.6%
2014-Q210.1%6.9%
2014-Q38.8%6.3%
2014-Q46.7%4.9%
2015-Q16.9%5.5%
2015-Q29.8%8.2%
2015-Q310.7%9.1%
2015-Q48.7%6.8%
2016-Q16.8%5.4%
2016-Q24.1%3.0%
2016-Q33.5%2.2%
2016-Q47.7%6.1%
2017-Q110.2%7.9%
2017-Q210.2%8.1%
2017-Q38.3%6.4%
2017-Q45.0%3.0%
2018-Q12.0%0.12%
2018-Q2-0.61%-2.6%
2018-Q3-1.9%-3.7%
2018-Q4-5.1%-6.8%
2019-Q1-7.4%-8.6%
2019-Q2-7.4%-8.9%
2019-Q3-3.7%-5.3%
2019-Q42.5%0.65%
2020-Q17.4%5.1%
2020-Q26.2%6.6%
2020-Q34.5%3.8%
2020-Q43.6%2.7%
2021-Q17.5%6.3%
2021-Q216.8%12.4%
2021-Q321.7%18.1%
2021-Q423.7%19.5%
2022-Q120.6%14.7%
2022-Q213.4%6.8%
2022-Q34.2%-2.9%
2022-Q4-3.1%-10.1%
2023-Q1-6.1%-12.3%
2023-Q2-3.8%-9.3%
2023-Q32.4%-2.8%
2023-Q47.2%3.1%
2024-Q19.6%5.7%
2024-Q28.9%4.9%
2024-Q37.4%4.5%
2024-Q45.8%3.3%
2025-Q14.5%2.0%
2025-Q24.1%1.9%
2025-Q35.1%1.8%
2025-Q48.1%4.2%
2026-Q110.0%5.7%

What to watch for

  • Every share on this page uses the total gross loans the IMF pairs with each real-estate indicator. The IMF also publishes a larger standalone total gross loans series for the same quarter and sector, against which the residential share is lower. A share quoted without naming its denominator is not checkable, which is why this page names it.
  • Cross-country shares of mortgage lending are affected by how much lending leaves the banking system in each country, through securitisation or purchase by agencies. This indicator measures loans on deposit-takers' books and not the size of each country's mortgage market, and the page makes no claim about which mechanism explains any particular gap.
  • Reporting economies publish on different schedules, so each point in the cross-country chart carries its own quarter: Australia is at March 2026 while Switzerland, Sweden and the United States are a quarter earlier and Korea is at June 2024. The comparator call named ten economies and returned eight, New Zealand and Japan having no observation.
  • Residential and commercial real estate together are 74.7 per cent of the paired loan total at March 2026 — a sum of the two shares, which is admissible here only because the IMF publishes the same denominator for both indicators in this quarter. It is not a figure the IMF prints.
  • The BIS residential property price series for Australia is compiled from the national source and rebased by the BIS. Year-ended changes are published by the BIS, and the inflation-adjusted series uses the BIS's own deflation rather than ours.
  • Bank lending shares and property prices come from two different producers. They are shown on separate charts and no ratio is computed across them.

References

Data extracted . Reviewed 2026-09-15 by Aard Data Team. Each numbered entry is the publication that documents the figures; the calls beneath it are the ones the retrieval actually made, recovered from the authoring session’s own transcript.

  1. [1]International Monetary Fund, Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI), Core and Additional Indicators, March quarter 2026
    Released 2026-09-15
    Vintage: Observations carry a publication timestamp of 2026-09-15T06:04:42Z. National compilers revise supervisory returns without notice, and reporting economies publish on different schedules, so the latest available quarter differs by country.
    International Monetary Fund. Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI), Core and Additional Indicators, IMF.STA:FSIC(13.0.1), https://data.imf.org/en/Data-Explorer?datasetUrn=IMF.STA:FSI. Accessed on 15 September 2026. Used under the IMF Copyright and Usage Terms — all rights reserved; not a Creative Commons licence.
    • The call this page made · extracted 15 September 2026
      IMF.STA:FSIC(13.0.1)https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/FSIC/AUS.REM+S1+S11+S123+S128+S1281+S1282+S129+S12CFSI+S12R+S14..A+M+Q
      • 56.957 % of total gross loans · 2006-Q1 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, Australia
      • 65.049 % of total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, Australia
      • 9.621 % of total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Commercial real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, Australia

      IMF Financial Soundness Indicators, Australian deposit-takers. Residential and commercial real estate loans as shares of the total gross loans the IMF pairs with each indicator. The IMF publishes each share; it does not publish their sum.

    • The call this page made · extracted 15 September 2026
      IMF.STA:FSIC(13.0.1)https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/FSIC/CAN+GBR+USA+NZL+NLD+SWE+DEU+CHE+KOR+JPN.REM.FSI524_CFSI_PT+FSI520_AFSI_PT.Q
      • 51.85 % of total gross loans · 2025-Q4 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, Switzerland
      • 49.06 % of total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, United Kingdom
      • 42.89 % of total gross loans · 2025-Q4 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, Sweden
      • 42.36 % of total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, Netherlands
      • 34.18 % of total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, Canada
      • 29.84 % of total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, Germany
      • 27.7 % of total gross loans · 2025-Q4 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, United States
      • 15.1 % of total gross loans · 2024-Q2 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, deposit-takers, Korea

      The comparator call with SECTOR=REM, which is where the real-estate loan shares live. Australia's own 65.05% is the Australian call's, in imf-fsi-2026-q1-aus-real-estate-lending — the ranking is the two side by side.

    • The call this page made · extracted 16 September 2026
      IMF.STA:FSIC(13.0.1)https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/FSIC/AUS.S12CFSI..Q?startPeriod=2008&endPeriod=2026
      • 2,635,760.624 A$ million · 2026-Q1 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, Residential real estate loans, Deposit takers, Domestic currencyAUS.S12CFSI.FSI524_RREF4_XDC.Q
      • 4,051,941.069 A$ million · 2026-Q1 · Residential real estate loans to total gross loans, Total gross loans, Deposit takers, Domestic currencyAUS.S12CFSI.FSI524_TGF4_XDC.Q
      • 4,958,179.166 A$ million · 2026-Q1 · Total gross loans, Total gross loans, Deposit takers, Domestic currencyAUS.S12CFSI.FSI667_TGF4_XDC.Q

      IMF Financial Soundness Indicators, Australian deposit-takers, 2026-Q1. The residential real estate indicator pairs its numerator with its own total gross loans series (A$4,051,941.1m, giving 65.05 per cent). The IMF separately publishes a standalone total gross loans series for the same quarter and sector that is A$906bn larger, against which the residential share is 53.2 per cent.

    • The call this page made · extracted 16 September 2026
      IMF.STA:FSIC(13.0.1)https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/FSIC/AUS.S12CFSI..Q?startPeriod=2008&endPeriod=2026
      • 54.604 % of the paired total gross loans · 2008-Q1 · Residential real estate loans as a share of the total gross loans the IMF pairs with them, AustraliaAUS.S12CFSI.FSI524_RREF4_XDC.Q over FSI524_TGF4_XDC
      • 66.005 % of the paired total gross loans · 2021-Q3 · Residential real estate loans as a share of the total gross loans the IMF pairs with them, AustraliaAUS.S12CFSI.FSI524_RREF4_XDC.Q over FSI524_TGF4_XDC
      • 64.8 % of the paired total gross loans · 2022-Q3 · Residential real estate loans as a share of the total gross loans the IMF pairs with them, AustraliaAUS.S12CFSI.FSI524_RREF4_XDC.Q over FSI524_TGF4_XDC
      • 65.049 % of the paired total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Residential real estate loans as a share of the total gross loans the IMF pairs with them, AustraliaAUS.S12CFSI.FSI524_RREF4_XDC.Q over FSI524_TGF4_XDC
      • 9.621 % of the paired total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Commercial real estate loans as a share of total gross loans, AustraliaAUS.S12CFSI.FSI520_CREL_XDC.Q over FSI520_TGF4_XDC

      IMF Financial Soundness Indicators, Australian deposit-takers. Residential real estate loans as a share of the total gross loans the IMF pairs with them peak at 66.005 per cent in 2021-Q3 and have sat between 65 and 66 per cent since 2023-Q1; the share falls in 26 of the 73 quarters, with a run of four consecutive falls ending 2022-Q3. The FSI520 and FSI524 denominators are the same value in 2026-Q1, which is what makes adding the two real-estate shares admissible in that quarter.

    • The call this page made · extracted 15 September 2026
      IMF.STA:FSIC(13.0.1)https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/FSIC/AUS.REM+S1+S11+S123+S128+S1281+S1282+S129+S12CFSI+S12R+S14..A+M+Q
      • 71.986 % of total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Loans to the domestic economy, deposit-takers, Australia
      • 25.906 % of total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Loans to other advanced economies, deposit-takers, Australia
      • 2.107 % of total gross loans · 2026-Q1 · Loans to emerging and developing economies, deposit-takers, Australia

      The Australian call, geographic distribution of lending by borrower location.

  2. [2]Bank for International Settlements, Selected residential property prices, March quarter 2026
    Vintage: Compiled by the BIS from the national source for each country and rebased to a common reference period. The inflation-adjusted series is deflated by the BIS, not by us. Revisions follow the national compiler.
    Source: Bank for International Settlements, Selected residential property prices (BIS:WS_SPP). Extracted 2026-09-15. Reproduced under the BIS Terms of Permitted Use of BIS Statistics; this is not an official BIS publication and the BIS does not endorse it.
    • The call this page made · extracted 15 September 2026
      BIS:WS_SPPhttps://stats.bis.org/api/v1/data/WS_SPP/Q.AU+US+GB+CA+NZ+NL+SE.....?format=csv
      • 9.985 % year-ended change · 2026-Q1 · Residential property prices, Australia, nominal, year-ended growth
      • 5.709 % year-ended change · 2026-Q1 · Residential property prices, Australia, inflation-adjusted, year-ended growth

      The BIS selected residential property price call, Australia. The inflation adjustment is the BIS's own, not ours. The chart runs 2000-Q1 to 2026-Q1; these are the latest quarter, which is what the prose and the key figure quote.

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