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Two of the big four banks have reported an uptick in customers asking for help but hardship levels remain surprisingly low.

Both ANZ and NAB, the first of the big four banks to front a parliamentary committee this week, reported resilience despite high inflation and a fast-paced series of interest rate hikes.

NAB chief executive Ross McEwan said the bank had contacted half a million customers since May 2022 to see how they were faring.

"This includes 8600 home loan customers who we thought were most at risk, but after checking in with them, surprisingly only 14 wanted immediate help," Mr McEwan said.

Surveying by the bank has revealed growing financial stress, however, with one in four feeling worse off financially than 12 months ago.

Mr McEwan said he expected more pain for households in the form of one or two more interest rate hikes.

"It is my view that the sooner we get to the top of this cycle the better, because while it hurts, it is the uncertainty that is harder to manage through," he said.

ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott said only $6 of every $1000 in its Australian home loans portfolio was overdue by more than 90 days, which was better than before the pandemic.

The bank boss offered three explanations for the display of resilience: strong levels of employment, big savings buffers and robust credit standards that have kept lending responsible.

Around 70 per cent are also ahead on their mortgage repayments, with many customers paying more than they had to when interest rates fell during the pandemic.

"Now that rates are rising, it also means their monthly bills aren't necessarily going up, they're just less ahead," Mr Elliott said.

NAB's top executive said rates of arrears - late mortgage repayments - were ticking up slowly and warned more than half of its customers who secured low fixed rates during the pandemic were yet to roll onto higher plans.

But he said 45 per cent had already fallen off their fixed rates of around two per cent onto something as high as six per cent, and default rates had still remained surprisingly low.

The bosses of Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank will front the committee on Thursday.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said his priority was making sure banks were doing the right thing by their customers.

"That's especially important in the context of interest rates, which have been going up since before the election," he said.

"(We must ensure) they are swiftly passing on interest rate increases to savers as they have been to borrowers."

© AAP 2023

Rising construction costs have slowed for the first time in two years as a drop in new home builds eases demand for materials and labour.

The cost of building a home or renovating recorded its lowest average increase last month since September 2020, with potential knock-on effects for the housing market and inflation.

The national quarterly average growth rate eased to 0.7 per cent in June, down from 0.9 per cent in May, according to property data giant CoreLogic.

It follows a growth peak of 4.7 per cent in September 2022, about which time a number of major home builders collapsed under the strain of rising material costs, labour shortages and other COVID-19 pandemic-related pressures.

While the change represents a significant deceleration, prices for a number of individual building materials remain volatile, according to CoreLogic's Cordell Construction Cost Index (CCCI).

Overall, the national CCCI increased by 8.4 per cent, down from 11.9 per cent the previous year.

CoreLogic construction cost estimation manager John Bennett attributed the change in part to a significant drop-off in dwelling approvals in the year to April.

"The latest index figures will bring some comfort and reassurance to the beleaguered building and construction industry as we've seen two consecutive quarters of growth more in line with long-term averages," he said.

CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said the change could have a knock-on effect on the Consumer Price Index.

"The cost of new owner occupier dwelling purchases comprises the largest weighting in the CPI 'basket', which means the ongoing reduction in the CCCI is good news, potentially signalling lower inflation numbers," she said.

Annual growth in the cost of new dwelling purchases fell to 12.7 per cent across the year to March 2023, from 20.7 per cent for the year ending September 2022.

Relief might still be some way off for those looking to rent or buy, however, with demand still outpacing supply and expected to grow.

"Despite high inflation and 12 interest rate hikes in 14 months, an imbalance between supply and demand has put a floor under prices across the country," Ms Owen said.

"Unprecedented increases in rent, persistently low vacancy rates and record levels of net overseas migration is also continuing to support housing demand."

© AAP 2023

Brad Fittler has laughed off speculation about his future as NSW coach but concedes "it won't be pretty" if the Blues fall to a series whitewash in State of Origin III.

With 17 games at the helm, Fittler is the longest continually serving coach in Blues history but has now lost three of the past four series, sitting with a 47 per cent win-rate ahead of the 2023 finale at Accor Stadium in Sydney.

Fittler acknowledged after Queensland claimed the series in game two he would need to meet with the NSW Rugby League board to discuss his future.

A decision is unlikely to be made until after the end of the NRL season but even if the Blues are beaten 3-0 questions remain as to NSW's viable replacement options.

Of the Blues' four assistant coaches, only Paul McGregor has full-time first-grade head-coaching experience, with Danny Buderus, Andrew Johns and Greg Alexander all untested at the top level.

The days of coaches juggling NRL and Origin duties appear over, while the impending arrival of Des Hasler and Shane Flanagan at Gold Coast and St George Illawarra respectively means there is a shortage of premiership-winning mentors on the open market.

The most-recent living coach to win an NRL premiership who is not currently employed at an NRL club is John Lang, who guided Penrith to the 2003 title. He retired from coaching in 2011.

The headlines around his coaching future have not registered with Fittler.

"I haven't really read them," he said.

"Every now and then I get told. Once again, they're all opinions. At the end of the day, NSW will sit down and decide who's the best person to coach the team.

"Then I'll have the opportunity to say whether I want to coach the team. In and amongst that, they'll find a coach.

"We've spoken about what needs to happen and the consequences of winning and losing.

"It won't be pretty if we get beat. On the other hand, when you win, it'll be a nice feeling."

The NSW playing group's ardent support for their coach has provided cold comfort for Fittler.

"They're players, they always support their coach, until the coach gets sacked," he laughed.

"Then they support the other coach."

Blues captain James Tedesco, who has faced pressure over keeping his Origin spot this series, said Fittler's detractors failed to see the big picture.

"It's similar to me, everyone's judging him off two games or one series, when you've got to look back at a whole career," Tedesco said.

"Someone's going to win and someone's going to lose, it's just how it is.

"But Freddy's got the best out of our players.

"That motivation that he brings, that pride in the jersey, he definitely brought that back in '18 and '19.

"That pride in the NSW jersey came back in bucketloads and he brought that to us."

© AAP 2023