Macquarie's Banking and Financial Services (BFS) division held $200 billion in home loans at 30 September 2026, up 9% from $183 billion in March and 24% from $161.7 billion a year earlier, while system housing credit grew 7% year on year. More than 95% of those loans were written through brokers. The growth arrived with thinner margins and BFS net credit and other impairment charges of $77 million, up from $24 million. On the same day, 6 November 2026, Macquarie disclosed a $100 million capital add-on. This article is general information rather than personal financial advice, and a borrowing decision is best weighed with a licensed professional. What follows is what the half-year result settles, and what it leaves open, for anyone comparing a Macquarie home loan with the majors.
The book passed $200bn and grew faster than the market
Macquarie is Australia's fifth-largest home lender. Its BFS home loan book reached $200 billion at 30 September 2026, up 9% from $183 billion at the March reporting point and 24% from $161.7 billion a year earlier. System housing credit grew 7% over the same year.
The mortgage growth pulled the group balance sheet up with it. Total loan assets rose 8% to $272.7 billion, which Macquarie attributed to volume growth in BFS home loans.
The 7% market figure is the comparison point the result was reported against. APRA publishes the official quarterly series for residential mortgage lending by banks, building societies and credit unions through its authorised deposit-taking institution property exposure statistics, and the June 2026 highlights were released on 17 September 2026. APRA supervises institutions holding around $10.6 trillion in assets for Australian depositors, policyholders and superannuation fund members.
Brokers write almost the whole book
More than 95% of Macquarie's home loans are originated through the broker channel. That sets the lender apart from the majors: Westpac reported a proprietary share of new home loans of 36%, and NAB said its bankers now originate half of its new home loans.
Broker Pulse: Residential Lending survey data, collected from 321 residential brokers between 1 and 16 April 2026, put Macquarie top for applications in March at 45%, ahead of ANZ at 44%, CBA at 37%, Westpac at 34% and NAB at 29%. The same survey put Macquarie's average turnaround at 1.6 business days, against 3.1 for Bankwest and 3.3 for St George, while NAB was the fastest of the majors at 4 days.
A lender that sources nearly all of its flow through brokers has no branch network to defend, so service standards and pricing carry most of the competitive weight. That makes the service numbers in the survey as relevant to a borrower as the headline growth rate.
Volume arrived with thinner margins and higher credit charges
BFS net interest and trading income rose 12% to $1.6 billion, driven by 22% growth in the average loan portfolio and 24% growth in average deposits, both measured net of offset accounts. Lower margins partly offset those gains. Macquarie attributed the squeeze to changes in portfolio mix and ongoing lending and deposit competition, and did not disclose the size of the compression.
For longer-run context, an S&P Global Ratings report on Macquarie Bank Ltd dated 28 November 2025 put net interest margin at 1.2% and 1.1% in the two reported years shown, with forecasts of 1.0% to 1.1%. The same report put Macquarie Bank's regulatory net stable funding ratio at 113% as of 30 September 2025, on par with the major banks.
Credit costs moved in the other direction. BFS net credit and other impairment charges jumped to $77 million from $24 million a year earlier, which Macquarie attributed to changes in the Australian macroeconomic outlook, partly offset by the sale of its car loans portfolio.
Costs grew alongside the book. BFS operating expenses rose 7% to $1 billion, employment expenses rose 18% on wage inflation and the extra staff needed to support portfolio growth, and headcount outside technology rose 11% year on year to 2,944.
Even so, BFS lifted its net profit contribution 6% to $841 million. Group net profit after tax came in just shy of $2.5 billion, up 50% on the prior corresponding half, a jump driven largely by the Commodities and Global Markets division and the gain on the sale of Macquarie AirFinance.
The pattern is not new. In the full year to 31 March 2025, BFS home loan volumes rose 19% to $141.7 billion, and BFS recorded a $45 million credit impairment charge against $15 million a year earlier, with margins compressed by lending and deposit competition and changes in portfolio mix.
Deposits fund more than half the group
BFS deposits rose 10% over the half to $236.2 billion, up 23% on a year earlier, and that figure includes home loan offset accounts. Group deposits of $244.2 billion now make up 53% of Macquarie's total funding. Because offset balances sit inside the deposit total, money borrowers hold in offset accounts forms part of the funding base the bank reports.
The $100m capital add-on: what is known and what is not
Macquarie disclosed a $100 million capital add-on on 6 November 2026, the same day as the result. Coverage of the day described it in a related headline as a nine-figure overlay over non-bank operations. The result coverage does not name the regulator that required the add-on, and it does not quantify any effect on home lending capacity or on pricing.
A capital add-on changes how much capital is held against part of a business. Whether that feeds into the price of a home loan is a separate question, and one this result leaves open.
Turnaround times and the service spend
Wendy Brown, Macquarie's head of home loan and commercial broker sales, said the bank is investing to scale its teams and streamline processes so it can maintain its turnaround times, and has been growing locally based credit and business development manager teams while continuing to improve its digital platforms. She also said new tools and policy changes are in the pipeline and will roll out over the coming weeks and months.
Staffing reflects that emphasis. Headcount outside technology rose 11% year on year to 2,944.
What this means if you are weighing a refinance
Brown said customers have been taking a closer look at their finances, reassessing their home loan options and considering whether refinancing makes sense, with brokers often at the centre of those conversations. The result landed in the same week the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 4.85%, its highest level since 2008.
Three things follow for a borrower. First, 24% growth against 7% system growth means Macquarie is taking share, and it attributes margin pressure to lending competition, which is the setting in which pricing gets negotiated. Second, its broker turnaround has been the shortest in the Broker Pulse survey, and it is adding credit and BDM staff. Third, the result contains no home loan rate, no fee schedule and no eligibility criteria, so it cannot tell you what you personally would be offered.
The impairment increase reflects a change in the macroeconomic outlook and the car loans sale, not a change to home loan assessment rules. Macquarie announced no change to lending criteria in the result.
Leadership: Wikramanayake's last result, Ward's cautious start
Shemara Wikramanayake delivered her final result as Macquarie Group managing director and outgoing chief executive before retiring on 6 November 2026. She said the strength of the result reflected the diversity of the group's businesses, the depth of expertise to work through less certain market conditions, and the teams' ability to identify opportunities and deliver for clients.
Incoming chief executive Greg Ward said Macquarie would keep a cautious stance with a conservative approach to capital, funding and liquidity, and named global economic conditions, inflation and interest rates, and potential tax or regulatory changes as factors that could shape the near-term outlook. Nothing in the result announced a change to broker distribution or to home lending strategy under the handover.
Questions borrowers are asking
Does the $100m capital add-on affect new home loans?
The result links the add-on to non-bank operations rather than to home lending, and it does not say the charge changes lending capacity or pricing. No change to home loan criteria was announced alongside it.
What rate and fees would I pay?
This result cannot answer that. It reports portfolio-level income and margin movement, including $1.6 billion in BFS net interest and trading income and margin pressure from lending and deposit competition, but publishes no home loan rate, fee schedule or eligibility criteria.
How fast are broker applications processed?
Broker Pulse had Macquarie's average turnaround at 1.6 business days, the shortest in its survey, compared with 3.1 for Bankwest, 3.3 for St George and 4 days for NAB among the majors. The bank's headcount outside technology rose 11% to 2,944 over the year.
Why did impairments rise, and does that change who can borrow?
BFS net credit and other impairment charges rose to $77 million from $24 million, driven by changes in the Australian macroeconomic outlook and partly offset by the car loans portfolio sale. That is a charge against the portfolio; no change to home loan assessment rules was announced.
Does the CEO change affect broker relationships?
Wikramanayake retired on 6 November 2026 after her final result, and Greg Ward is incoming chief executive. Ward flagged a cautious approach to capital, funding and liquidity. The result announced no change to the broker-led distribution model.
Where the figures come from
The half-year numbers and executive comments are from Mortgage Professional Australia's report on Macquarie's result, published 6 November 2026. Industry context on APRA's quarterly authorised deposit-taking institution property exposure statistics comes from APRA's June 2026 highlights, released 17 September 2026. Margin and funding ratio background is from an S&P Global Ratings report on Macquarie Bank Ltd dated 28 November 2025. Broker usage, turnaround and experience data is from the Broker Pulse: Residential Lending report by Agile Market Intelligence, based on 321 brokers surveyed between 1 and 16 April 2026. The prior-year comparison is from Mortgage Professional Australia's coverage of the full-year result to 31 March 2025, published 9 May 2025.