A new national survey has revealed borrowers are turning to brokers for market experience and time‑saving convenience, but are also looking more closely at advice quality and costs.
Fresh research from the Finance Brokers Association of Australasia (FBAA) and CoreData, based on 1,007 investors and home owners surveyed in December 2025 and January 2026, has revealed why Australians are choosing brokers and how that relationship is evolving.
The study found that market know‑how and efficiency sit at the heart of broker appeal.
According to the research, the share of respondents who see “experience and knowledge of the market” as a key benefit of using a broker rose from 50 to 53 per cent year on year, while those citing “convenience and savings” climbed from 38 to 43 per cent.
This emphasis is also driving engagement with the proportion of respondents who said they went to a mortgage broker specifically for their experience of the market increasing from 50 to 57 per cent.
Meanwhile, those who turned to a finance broker for convenience and timesaving rose from 37 to 47 per cent.
In a sign that borrowers are looking beyond rates alone, the research also uncovered changing views on choice.
The share who said they were using mortgage brokers for access to a wide variety of lenders and products slipped from 48 to 42 per cent, but for finance brokers, that figure rose from 34 to 40 per cent.
Satisfaction high as service lifts
The study revealed that satisfaction with brokers had remained at high levels in 2025, particularly around communication and accessibility.
The satisfaction with communication jumped from 88 to 96 per cent year on year, while availability and best interests also increased.
On specific service attributes, finance brokers scored especially strongly, recording a 98 per cent favourability result for communication, compared to 94 per cent for mortgage brokers.
The research also noted that “finance brokers received a 93 per cent result compared with mortgage brokers 87 per cent” on acting in the client’s best interests.
Overall, issues with brokers are becoming less common, with the proportion of clients who said they had experienced a problem falling from 13 to 9 per cent.
“The majority continue seeing broking as a trusted profession, with brokers trusted slightly more than lenders,” the report reads.
Trust strong, but new pressure points emerge
Trust in mortgage brokers – completely or to some extent – lifted from 71 to 74 per cent, while trust in finance brokers eased slightly from 71 to 70 per cent.
The report noted that “investors with recent broker use continue to exhibit stronger trust in brokers, pointing to consistently positive engagement”.
At the same time, the profile of concerns is shifting.
On reported issues with brokers, communication problems accounted for 39 per cent of complaints, up from 32 per cent, payment issues almost doubled from 8 to 15 per cent, and concerns about lack of quality advice rose from 11 to 13 per cent.
On broader challenges, the standout increases are the difficulty of “finding one with sufficient experience and knowledge of the market”, which is up from 31 to 39 per cent.
In the finance broker segment, those pressures are more acute.
The proportion citing a lack of sufficient experience surged from 29 to 44 per cent, while the share who said a finance broker did not act in their best interests jumped from 23 to 37 per cent.
Yet this was contrasted with a fall in the proportion of respondents who said mortgage brokers did not act in their best interests, which was down from 42 to 36 per cent.
Loyalty, referrals, and rising DIY alternatives
Despite the growing availability of digital tools and direct‑to‑lender offers, the survey suggested borrowers still viewed brokers as a primary pathway to the market.
Likeliness to use the same broker again edged up from 75 to 76 per cent, with the FBAA noting that “broker loyalty remains stable – with most clients saying they would use the same broker again.”
Personal networks also remain central to how borrowers choose their intermediary.
Referrals still account for six in 10 leads, with 34 per cent of respondents finding their broker through family or friends and 28 per cent via another professional.
The survey also highlighted gender differences, observing that “women were significantly more likely to find their broker through a referral from friends or family than men (41 per cent versus 29 per cent).”
At the same time, alternative paths are gaining ground.
The proportion of consumers preferring to undertake DIY research and applications increased from 40 to 46 per cent yoy, and those going directly to banks or credit unions rose from 33 to 37 per cent yoy.
Interest in government programs lifted sharply from 17 to 25 per cent, following recent policy announcements by the federal government, including the Help to Buy scheme and the expanded 5 per cent deposit program.
[Related: Peter White AM steps down from FBAA]
