Buyers choose mutuals
More investors and home buyers are turning to credit unions and building societies to source financing, new figures suggest.
According to the latest APRA statistics, credit unions and building societies (mutuals) enjoyed substantial volume growth in 2010, growing their market share by 10.7 per cent
This compares with comparable growth of 4.4 per cent for banks over the same period.
These results follow the December Australian Bureau of Statistics data which found mutuals were writing almost 11 per cent of new home loans in Australia – a jump from 6.5 per cent two years ago.
“The strong growth of mutuals reflects the value they offer their customers – who are also their owners,” Abacus chief executive Louise Petschler said.
"As more people learn about our services more make the move to mutual banking. And why wouldn’t they? While the big banks are breaking up with each other we’re sticking with our members and offering consistently better rates over the long term.”