Brokers hit new market share record

This caps the end of an historic 12-month period for the industry, during which it approached and then crossed the key 50 per cent threshold.

The MFAA announced to brokers at its annual conference in May last year that they were writing practically half of Australia’s home loans, with a 49.9 per cent share of the market in the March 2014 quarter.

That figure dropped to 49.7 per cent in the June 2014 quarter and rose again to 51.5 per cent in the September 2014 quarter before dropping to 50.5 per cent in the December 2014 quarter.

MFAA chief executive Siobhan Hayden said she was pleased that brokers were continuing to perform so strongly.

“The research also showed that brokers are offering the consumer real choice and driving competition – 30.2 per cent of broker-initiated home loans went to smaller lenders, which is a true indicator of competitive behaviour,” she said.

“Based on this success, we continue to call on members to look to diversify their services offering to take advantage in the consumer switch to the broker channel.”

Total new home lending attributed to brokers was $165 billion for the 12 months to 31 March 2015 – a 19 per cent increase on the March 2014 quarter.

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics of data, there was a $44.2 billion increase in mortgage lending across Australia during that time. Brokers were responsible for $31.2 billion or 71 per cent of that increase.

“The 71 per cent contribution to growth is testament to the tide of consumer attraction to the broker channel and deflates the unsubstantiated comments that consumers receive poor customer service,” Ms Hayden said.

[Related: ‘Mortgage brokers are critical to the Australian economy’]