ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott predicts the pace of home loan growth will slow by roughly half to an all-time low, as an "extraordinary" boom in mortgage debt over the past three decades comes to an end.

Mr Elliott also underlined the tighter credit conditions facing customers, saying the maximum amount banks would lend an average household for a mortgage had fallen by about $110,000 or 20 per cent in the last three years.

After the bank posted a 5 per cent slide in profits on Wednesday, Mr Elliott said the combination of falling house prices, already indebted borrowers, and the fact that interest rates can't get much lower would all work to put the brakes on growth in the $1.6 trillion mortgage market.

ANZ boss Shayne Elliott says it's a 'tough' revenue environment for banks at the moment. Credit:Vince Caligiuri

Although Mr Elliott played down the chances of a sharp fall in house prices, he said his "personal" view was that the rate of housing credit growth would "trend towards" 2 to 3 per cent, compared with 5 to 6 per cent more recently.