New data published by the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) has revealed that brokers now write two-thirds of all home loans in Australia, a new record mortgage broker market share.
The milestone was the result of a 6.8% leap in market share, leaving the total percentage at 66.9% of all new residential home loans written by brokers.
That is a huge increase of 6.8% on the previous record, set in September 2020, and obliterates the September 2019 quarter numbers by 12%. In 2017, at the last peak of the housing market, the number was close to 50%.
Brokers are not just writing more loans as a percentage: they are also doing it at a time of record volumes. The MFAA charted a new high of $93.42bn in loans settled in the September quarter of 2021, up 62.5% on last year and 20% up on the June quarter of this year.
MFAA CEO Mike Felton said that the results were a reflection of the way that the broker channel has reacted to the pandemic and been able to keep customers interests at heart.
“This market share is appropriate recognition of an industry that has implemented significant reforms which continue to drive consumer trust and confidence in the mortgage broking sector,” he said.
“Not only do mortgage brokers provide consumers with choice, experience and convenience, they now provide an unrivalled Best Interests Duty which further differentiates our channel and provides yet another compelling reason to use the services of a mortgage broker.”
“What makes this result even more remarkable is that it coincided with extended periods of lockdown in New South Wales, Victoria and other states.”
“This result also reflects the improvement in lender application approval turnarounds in the third quarter and highlights the type of broker market share that can be achieved when lender turnarounds for broker introduced business are less stifled.”
