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- The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) reported roughly 67 per cent of last quarter’s mortgages were written by brokers
- The results are also the highest recorded for the past 25 years when the study started
- BuyersBuyers CEO Doron Peleg claims the competition for lending has been fierce, making borrowers likely to seek an expert option
- Co-founder of BuyersBuyers Pete Wargent says the agency was seeing more customers from mortgage brokers
- Mr Pelep says there has been a record interest in fixed-rate mortgages this year, but with the climate for lenders changing, he expected more variable-rate mortgages in 2022
The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) reported roughly 67 per cent of last quarter’s mortgages were written by brokers compared to previous results at 60 per cent.
The results are also the highest recorded for the past 25 years when the study started.
“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 choices in the mortgage market,” BuyersBuyers CEO Doron Peleg said.
BuyersBuyers is a national marketplace for buyer’s agents.
Mr Peleg claimed the competition for lending has been fierce, making borrowers likely to seek an expert option.
“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,” he said.
Consumer education
Co-founder of BuyersBuyers Pete Wargent said the agency was seeing more customers from mortgage brokers.
“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,” he said.
“Great consumer awareness and education can only be a good thing for financial stability and the housing market in general.”
Mr Peleg said there has been a record interest in fixed-rate mortgages this year, but with the climate for lenders changing, he expected more variable-rate mortgages in 2022.
“Investors, in particular, like to have the flexibility these days, and we’ve seen a sizeable increase in investor clients using offset accounts and redraw facilities,” he said.
“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 the 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”.
