Pepper Money said the Reserve Bank’s interest rate increases since May had led to a significant decline in demand for housing loans, after it reported an 11 per cent increase in interim underlying net profit.

Citing Equifax data, Pepper said applications for new mortgages for the three months from May to July 2022 declined by 21.6 per cent compared to the prior three-month period, 7.8 per cent on the same period of 2021, and 14.9 per cent in July versus June.