Record market share for brokers
Mortgage brokers accounted for almost 67 per cent of mortgages written last quarter, according to the latest available figures from the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) figures.
Doron Peleg, CEO of Australia’s first national marketplace for buyer’s agents, BuyersBuyers, said this was a continuation of a multi-decade trend.
Mr Peleg said, “the advent of the internet and mortgage aggregators really helped to accelerate the use of mortgage brokers, helping consumers to understand the full array of choice in the mortgage market.”
“There’s been fierce competition in the lending space, and it makes perfect sense for borrowers to get a mortgage expert on their side.”
“Based on the current climate, and while recognising that the quarterly numbers will inevitably bounce around, there’s absolutely no reason to expect that brokers can’t account for 70 per cent or more of the mortgage market in the coming few years” Mr Peleg said.
Figure 1 – Record mortgage broker market share
Consumer education
Pete Wargent, co-founder of BuyersBuyers said the buyer’s agency was seeing more customers than ever coming from mortgage brokers.
Mr Wargent said, “it works best for us because customers are coming to us better informed, with a greater awareness of their likely strategy, the buffers they need to keep in place, and the possible trajectory of interest rates.”
“Great consumer awareness and education can only be a good thing for financial stability and the housing market in general.”
“We’re constantly building affiliations with mortgage brokers and broking groups precisely for this reason. It’s also a win-win because by engaging a buyer’s agent, we consistently help clients to buy with less time, cost, and stress, and in doing so will invariably increase the conversion rate of mortgage pre-approvals into actual home loans.”
Variable rates back in vogue
BuyersBuyers CEO Doron Peleg said there had been record interest in fixed-rate mortgages in 2021, but with the landscape for lenders now changing, he expected to see more variable-rate mortgages written in 2022.
Mr Peleg said, “investors, in particular, like to have flexibility these days, and we’ve seen a sizeable increase in investor clients using offset accounts and redraw facilities.”
“2021 was the year of the first homebuyer and upgraders, but we expect investors to be much more active in 2022”.
“Mortgage rates may rise, but you’ve got to look at it in context – they are rising from record low levels.”
“Mortgage brokers are now operating with a best interest duty as well as offering more choice and consumer convenience, which gives me even more confidence that mortgage broker market share will continue to rise. This is all the more reason for us to keep building affiliations in the mortgage broking space” Mr Peleg said.
