ANZ Group said mortgage demand slowed after Australia's property tax changes, adding to signs of weaker housing activity even as the bank posted stronger third-quarter earnings. The lender, which has the lowest mortgage market share among Australia's four major banks, said mortgage application values were broadly unchanged from the previous quarter because participation in an Australian government scheme helped buyers purchase property with deposits as low as 5%. Excluding that scheme, introduced in late March, mortgage application values fell 5% from the second quarter and were down 12% between the federal budget announcement and the end of July. ANZ reported third-quarter cash profit of A$1.90 billion, up 1% from the average of the prior two quarters, while net interest income excluding markets rose 2% from the first-half quarterly average. Its CET1 ratio (core bank capital measure) rose to 12.51% at June 30 from 12.4% at March 31, and net interest margin (difference between lending and funding returns) edged up 1 basis point to 1.54%. Earlier in the week, Commonwealth Bank of Australia said mortgage applications had dropped 15% since the May tax changes, while Westpac reported a 20% fall and said investor housing credit growth could halve next year.