Private lending statistics 2026: Australia's private credit, caveat and second mortgage market

Key takeaway

Australian private credit is roughly $200 billion, about half of it secured on property and about a tenth of all business debt. A third of SMEs used a non-bank lender last year, brokers settled $52.3 billion of commercial finance in 2025 and the ATO issued over 84,000 director penalty notices. Those four numbers explain the market.

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Key numbers. About $200bn ASIC’s estimate of Australian private credit · 40% to 60% of it is real estate lending (ASIC) · $92bn private debt fund CRE lending, about 18% of CRE debt (A&M) · About 10% of business debt is private credit (RBA, October 2026) · 34% of SMEs used a non-bank lender in the past year · $52.3bn commercial, business and asset finance settled by brokers in 2025 · 84,000+ ATO director penalty notices in 2024-25 · 65% to 75% typical private lender maximum LVR

How big the market is

There is no single official count. ASIC, the RBA and the big consultancies each measure private credit differently, which is why the estimates below range from $40 billion to $234 billion. The spread is a measurement difference, not a disagreement about growth.

About $200 billion is ASIC’s working estimate of the Australian private credit market, with 40% to 60% of it real estate lending, 20% to 40% corporate and commercial, and 10% to 30% asset backed or securitised. (ASIC Report 814, Private credit in Australia, September 2025)
A$234.5 billion is EY-Parthenon’s 2025 figure, up from A$34.8 billion in 2015, a 21% compound growth rate. EY forecasts about A$300 billion by 2029 and private credit at 15.6% of corporate lending. (EY-Parthenon Annual Australian Private Debt Market Overview, March 2026)
A$224 billion of private debt assets under management in 2025, up 9% on 2024, with A$253 billion forecast for 2026 and A$323 billion for 2028. Private debt has grown about 20% a year over a decade against about 5% for banks. (Alvarez and Marsal Australian Private Debt Market Review 2025)
A$92 billion of commercial real estate lending by private debt funds, about 18% of all CRE debt (banks hold 82%), plus A$132 billion of corporate and business lending, about 14% of that market. (Alvarez and Marsal Australian Private Debt Market Review 2025)
About 10% of total business debt and under 2% of financial system assets is where the largest estimates put private credit. Non-bank lenders overall hold about 6% of financial system assets. (RBA Financial Stability Review, October 2026)
About $40 billion was the RBA’s narrow estimate in October 2024, counting only managed fund structures (over 200 lenders, 2.5% of business debt). (RBA Bulletin, Growth in Global Private Credit, October 2024)
38.3% of Australian private credit assets are held by the top 10 funds. (EY-Parthenon, March 2026)
16% of total CRE lending was private credit on EY’s 2024 estimate, as bank CRE lending fell from 10% to 5.5% of bank assets since 2009. (Knight Frank citing EY, October 2025)

Non-banks versus banks

8.6% vs 4.7% annualised lending growth for non-banks against the major banks in the six months to March 2026. (PwC analysis of APRA data, reported by The Adviser)
13% annual growth in non-bank business lending in the year to January 2025. (RBA Financial Stability Review, April 2025)
10.7% of new home lending by value was written by non-bank lenders in the June quarter 2026 ($10.49 billion, up 65.2% in a year), against 4.8% in September 2019. (Money.com.au analysis of ABS data, reported by Australian Broker)
A little below 1% of non-bank housing loans were 90 days or more in arrears at March 2026, only marginally above the banks. (RBA Financial Stability Review, March 2026)
$1.26 trillion of bank lending to businesses at June 2026, up 10.5% in a year, the fastest in six years. The pie is growing, not just shifting. (APRA monthly ADI statistics, reported by Broker Daily)
$501.6 billion of bank commercial property exposures at June 2026, up 8.3% in a year. (APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, June 2026)
4.60% is the RBA cash rate from 30 September 2026, after four rises in 2026. (RBA media release 2026-27)
$27.2 billion of new business loans for the purchase of property were committed in the June quarter 2026, up 18.9% in a year, plus $12.5 billion for construction. (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026, reported by The Adviser)

What SMEs say about getting finance

34% of SMEs used a non-bank lender in the past 12 months, 92% have used or would consider one, and 12% say bank appetite for SME credit is falling, four times the 2018 level. (ScotPac SME Growth Index, June 2026, reported by The Adviser)
55% of SMEs planned to fund new investment through a non-bank lender in 2025, an all time high, while the share planning to use a bank fell from 42% to 30%. 25% planned to use private credit. (ScotPac SME Growth Index Round 22, July 2025)
11,785 brokers wrote commercial loans in 2025, settling $52.3 billion of commercial, business and asset finance, up from $41.1 billion in 2024. (MFAA State of Mortgage and Finance Broking Report 2026)
48% of brokers used a non-bank lender in June 2026 and 82% of them said client circumstances were the reason. (Agile Market Intelligence Broker Pulse, reported by The Adviser)
10.49% was the median SME loan rate across about 10,000 non-bank settlements in FY2026, with settlements to credit scores under 459 up 18%. (Valiant Finance data reported by Australian Broker)
2.65% of Judo Bank’s $13.8 billion SME loan book was 90 days past due or impaired at March 2026, a proxy for SME stress at the challenger end of the market. (Judo Bank Q3 FY26 update, reported by Australian Broker)

The ATO as the driver

Tax debt is the most common reason an Australian business turns to a private lender. The ATO’s own numbers show why.

Over $50 billion of collectable tax debt at 30 June 2025, up from $26.5 billion in 2019, with $34.7 billion of it activity statement debt. (ATO Deputy Commissioner Anna Longley, Tax Summit speech, September 2025)
$35.9 billion (66.1%) of it is owed by small business. (ATO Deputy Commissioner Anna Longley, September 2025)
Over 84,000 director penalty notices went to directors of about 64,000 companies in 2024-25, along with over 15,000 garnishee notices. (ATO Deputy Commissioner Anna Longley, September 2025)
About 24,000 business tax debts were disclosed to credit reporting bureaus in 2024-25 after more than 28,000 intent to disclose notices. The threshold is $100,000 overdue by 90 days or more. (ATO Deputy Commissioner Anna Longley, September 2025)
21.9% of the 35,361 businesses with an ATO default over $100,000 became insolvent within 12 months, 31 times the national rate of 0.7%. 53.8% of them were sole traders. (CreditorWatch Business Risk Index, June 2026)
-11.9% year on year change in trade credit demand in the March quarter 2026, while business loan applications rose 0.8% and asset finance 3.1%. (Equifax Quarterly Commercial Insights, May 2026)

Insolvency and the development pipeline

14,152 companies entered external administration for the first time in 2025-26 (14,722 the year before). Construction was the largest sector at 3,472 and 3,031 companies used small business restructuring. (ASIC data reported by Accountants Daily, July 2026)
24.3% of calendar 2025 insolvencies were construction, 15.6% hospitality and 6.9% retail, out of 14,650 appointments (up 8.2% on 2024). (EY-Parthenon citing ASIC, March 2026)
2,814,778 actively trading businesses at June 2026, with 460,461 entries and 375,331 exits in the year. (ABS Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2026)
205,249 dwellings approved in 2025-26, up 9.2% and the most since 2020-21, with 52,201 starts and 47,168 completions in the June quarter alone. (ABS Building Approvals and Building Activity, 2026)
47,750 homes short of the Housing Accord trajectory in 2025-26. 253,000 starts a year are needed to stay on track. (Master Builders Australia, reported by The Adviser)

What private lending costs

Published rate sheets and guides, not a survey. Pricing moves with LVR, ranking, property type, term and the exit.

From 8.09% p.a. for a first ranking private loan to 75% LVR, $500,000 to $40 million, funding within 48 hours of valuation; a no valuation facility from 9.09% to 60% LVR; residual stock up to 36 months. (Assetline Capital private lending rate sheet, October 2026)
0.8% to 2.5% a month is the typical caveat loan range (about 10% to over 30% a year), with the lowest advertised rates about 0.77% to 0.79% a month, establishment fees of 2% to 5% and settlement in 1 to 3 business days. (Feasly caveat loans and second mortgage guide, August 2026)
65% to 75% of current market value is the typical maximum a private lender will advance, on terms of 3 to 24 months. Combined caveat or second mortgage exposure is usually capped at 75% to 80%. (The Adviser, August 2026; Feasly)
From 0.975% a month for second mortgages and 1.65% a month for caveat loans, with first mortgages from 8% p.a. and establishment fees of 1.5% to 2.5%, on this site’s own rate card. (Lienhouse rates and fees)

What people are actually asking

The enquiries that reach Lienhouse are specific and time bound: a developer buying a run down tenanted property that a bank will not touch until it is tidied up, a company with an ATO debt that needs clearing before the garnishee or director penalty notice lands, a broker asking how commission works on a private deal. The searches behind them are low doc business loans, private lender, caveat loan process, caveat loans with no valuation or bad credit or on rural property, residual stock loans, refinancing with a caveat on title, second mortgage business loans, land subdivision and development funding, and acquisition finance. That is exactly what the numbers say the market is. Half of private credit is property lending, a third of SMEs used a non-bank last year, the ATO issued more than 84,000 director penalty notices in a single year, and businesses with a six figure tax default fail at 31 times the national rate. Private lending is the bridge between a bank saying not yet and a business that cannot wait.

How to use these figures

Every number on this page is taken from the named public source and dated to the period that source covers. Quote or reproduce them with attribution to this page and a link. We refresh the page once a year and correct it sooner when a source is revised. If a figure looks wrong, use the form below and tell us which one.

Sources

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FAQ

How big is the private credit market in Australia?

Around $200 billion on ASIC's 2025 estimate, A$224 billion on Alvarez and Marsal's count and A$234.5 billion on EY-Parthenon's. The RBA says the largest estimates put it at about 10% of total business debt. The range comes from different definitions of what counts as private credit.

How much of private lending is secured on property?

ASIC estimates 40% to 60% of Australian private credit is real estate lending. Alvarez and Marsal put private debt fund lending on commercial real estate at A$92 billion, about 18% of all CRE debt.

What does a caveat loan cost in Australia?

Published guides put caveat loans at about 0.8% to 2.5% a month with establishment fees of 2% to 5%, and lender rate sheets show first ranking private loans from about 8% a year. Lienhouse's own rate card starts at 1.65% a month for caveat loans and 0.975% a month for second mortgages.

Why do businesses use private lenders instead of banks?

Speed and circumstances. 82% of brokers who used a non-bank in June 2026 cited client circumstances, 12% of SMEs say bank appetite is falling, and ATO enforcement (84,000 plus director penalty notices in 2024-25) often does not leave time for a bank process.

How often is this page updated?

Once a year, or sooner when ASIC, the RBA or the consultancies publish new estimates.

Private lending statistics 2026: how big Australia's private credit market is and who is borrowing