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Despite the slow growth of housing credit, one industry group is predicting a banner year for brokers.
Following a report from Deloitte suggesting lending growth through 2013 will top out at around 5%, the MFAA has said its own internal polling shows that brokers will nab a larger share of the market. MFAA CEO Phil Naylor told Australian Broker that the third-party channel was set to grow faster than the overall lending finance market.
“All evidence we’re getting from our discussions with brokers and some of our own surveying shows that consumers are becoming more attracted by and are looking for the value proposition offered by brokers. That’s not just offering a transaction, but advising about consumer credit needs," he said.
It's because of this surveying that Naylor says the MFAA will change its accreditation title to "Credit Advisor".
He said brokers set to see a windfall from increased market share need to prepare themselves to live up to this title.
#pb# “The basic response is for brokers to understand that they’re not there with an initial focus on making a transaction. They’re there to give advice on credit, and if it’s appropriate and the consumer accepts it, hopefully the transaction will follow. And hopefully many more in the future will follow," Naylor said.
Naylor said a shift from transactional broking to advice-based and relational broking was already happening "on a fairly rapid trajectory". He predicted that this would drive increased consumer demand for brokers.
“What brokers have to realise is that if all they’re doing is offering a transaction, they’re offering no more than three or four other sources in the market. The consumer could go to a bank or a credit union or a building society and get that. They’re putting themselves in a market where there are plenty of other areas the consumer can get the same deal. If they’re offering credit advice, they’re offering something none of these other areas can.”
