By
by Rebecca Pike
Fifty-three percent of brokers have noticed a drop in loan approvals during 2018, as scrutiny of banks and brokers ramps up.
The recent survey by HashChing also found that a small portion of brokers are reviewing the viability of their business, after commentary surrounding changes to commission structures.
According to HashChing COO Siobhan Hayden, the Royal Commission has highlighted a ‘lack of oversight and transparency’ in major banks.
During one testimony at the commission, CBA’s executive general manager of home buying, Daniel Huggins, gave insight into their commission structure. The longer the loan takes to pay off, the larger the trailing commission.
Hayden said: “The Royal Commission has highlighted the confusion regarding the term ‘broker introduced loans’, which includes mobile bank lenders and mortgage brokers alike. CBA’s confirmation that their brokers were not able to ‘accurately disclose the commissions earned by customers’ almost certainly excludes mortgage brokers due to their NCCP compliance requirements which clearly identifies all commissions provided to a mortgage broker.
“The fact that nearly 60 per cent of all new residential lending in Australia is facilitated by mortgage brokers and that there has been no systemic consumer issues, along with the findings that CBA and ANZ conducted little to no further analysis on mortgage broker introduced loans is a testament to the high calibre of professionalism that currently exists within the industry.”
The HashChing survey also found that despite recent reports suggesting an increase in non-traditional mortgage options in 2018, 71% of brokers have not noticed this trend.
According to the survey, 56% of mortgage brokers have found no measurable impact on their business, despite the recent negative commentary.
