New research just released by J.P. Morgan in their Australian Mortgage Industry Report indicates that brokers are continuing to gain ground in the Australian home mortgage market.
Of particular note is that major banking institution ANZ has been steadily reducing the amount of branches that it operates since 2011, and is in turn looking to increase co-operation and the utilisation of brokerage services.
This latest news is further proof of already the established belief that brokers will play a major part in the Australian home mortgage market for many years to come.
Further reinforcement of this can be found in the J.P. Morgan report which states that up to 75% of refinancers are soon expected to employ the services of brokers.
Last year a Deloitte sponsored industry roundtable noted that more than 51% of Australian mortgages written were going through a broker and further growth was expected in the future towards a figure of 60%.
In addition if one is to look at the UK banking sector brokers there are thought to be already accounting for approximately 75% of home loans.
Brokers Offer What Banks Cannot
Part of the reason for this transition by mortgage seekers away from traditional banking services is that brokers can offer what major banks cannot.
Brokers can offer extra flexibility and manoeuvrability that the big banks cannot, with enhanced one-on-one access afforded as well as advanced customer services such as being able to meet outside 9 to 5 business hours.
Additionally, brokers are usually much more embedded in their local communities and as they are largely self-sufficient they need to work harder for their customers as well as provide service above and beyond the norm.
Traditional banking structures are also proving to be a hindrance to the major financial institutions and it is because of all of these reasons that we see brokers continue to gain in popularity and expand their market share.