"Connective brokers are flying"

Connective brokers lodged $110.06 billion in residential home loan applications and $74.9 billion in residential settlements in 2021, the company has announced. Across residential, commercial and asset finance, Connective brokers posted gross total settlements of $85 billion.

“The numbers say it all – Connective brokers are flying,” said Glenn Lees, CEO of Connective (pictured). “2021 was a big year, and a great one for brokers who were agile in leveraging opportunities the market presented. We’re optimistic that 2022 will bring more success for our brokers – they’ve already started this year off with a bang, lodging $5.9 billion in applications in January.”

Due to the success of Connective brokers, the company grew its team by almost 15% last year to meet demand.

“It’s an extraordinary time of demand for brokers, and we believe our software, Mercury Nexus, has been instrumental in helping brokers achieve these records,” Lees said. “Our members have been able to capitalise on mortgage demand and strengthen their business with our support.”

Connective brokers had a record year in terms of residential settlements, growing 44% year over year, the company said.

Broker market share grew significantly last year. According to MFAA, between July and September, mortgage brokers facilitated a record high of 66.9% of all new residential home loans. Record-low interest rates and government stimulus policies helped drive the booming market.

Connective brokers ended the year on a high, settling $8.96 billion in December 2021, up 55% from December 2020’s $5.8 billion.

Connective has the largest share of commercial brokers of any aggregator. Connective’s commercial brokers posted $7.4 billion in total settlements last year – an 83% rise from 2020.

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December was the strongest month for Connective’s commercial brokers, with $904 million in settlements – up 93% from December 2020.

The Connective asset finance broker community grew by 20% last year, hitting 1,000 members. National asset finance settlements finished at $2.51 billion for calendar 2021, a 49% rise over 2020.

Other results for 2021 include:

• The highest annual growth in residential settlements for Connective brokers was in Queensland, with an 81% increase to $12.2 billion
• New South Wales maintained the highest value in residential settlements at $35.3 billion, a 66% increase
• National Australia Bank posted the largest growth in value of residential settlements through Connective brokers, growing 90% year over year
• Western Australia posted the strongest growth in commercial settlements at 107% year on year
• Westpac remained the highest-ranking lender for asset finance settlements by Connective brokers