Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) reported a record $5.45 billion cash profit for the first half of the fiscal year, fueled by a surge in investor lending as housing prices continue to climb across the country. The results, released on Wednesday, demonstrate the bank is settling an average of over 3,000 home loans each week.
The bank’s earnings, up 6% from the same period last year, exceeded expectations, prompting a jump in CBA shares, which rose more than 7% in trading on Wednesday. CBA announced an interim dividend of $2.35 per share, an increase of 10 cents from the previous year.
A significant driver of the profit increase was a shift in lending towards investors, who now account for 43% of recent business, up from 37% two years ago. Simultaneously, lending to owner-occupiers has decreased as a proportion of the bank’s loan book. This trend reflects a nationwide pattern, with investors increasingly winning bidding wars against first-home buyers, exacerbating wealth inequality, according to analysts.
CBA Chief Executive Matt Comyn stated that home loan balances had increased by 7% over the past year, reaching $622 billion, with 97% of these customers also holding a CBA transaction account. The bank also reported a decrease in mortgage arrears, attributing it to previous interest rate reductions and tax cuts.
However, the bank acknowledged that arrears levels remain elevated and the full impact of last week’s interest rate hike has yet to be reflected in mortgage repayment data.
The strong profits have drawn criticism from the Finance Sector Union (FSU), which expressed concerns about rising workloads and job security for CBA staff. A recent FSU survey of over 1,700 CBA workers revealed that 72% are worried about their jobs, citing concerns about offshoring and the increasing use of artificial intelligence.
The surge in lending also appears to have taken the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) by surprise. RBA Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser admitted on Wednesday that credit growth had been stronger than anticipated following last year’s interest rate cuts. He acknowledged that policymakers may have “missed slightly” in their assessment of the housing market.
Hauser noted that lending remained accessible even after the RBA increased interest rates last week, and that financial conditions remained “on the accommodative side.” He welcomed recent measures implemented by the prudential regulator to limit borrowing, specifically capping new loans to customers with high debt-to-income ratios at 20% of total new lending, calling the move “smart design.”
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, investors accounted for two in five home loans issued in the final quarter of 2025, receiving 60,445 loans totaling a record near-$43 billion. This figure surpassed the 57,282 loans issued to existing owner-occupiers and nearly doubled the number of loans granted to first-home buyers, who benefited from the government’s 5% deposit scheme.
