But number of broker lodged loans falls 12.42%
Despite the number of loans written by Queensland brokers having dipped, the number of Queensland brokers has risen along with the state’s loan book, according to the latest research from the MFFA.
The MFAA Industry Intelligence Service 16th edition Report, which covers the six-month period from October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, revealed Queensland brokers settled $26.22 billion in home loans compared to $27.43 billion during the equivalent 2021–22 period, which is a 4.4% decline.
However, the state’s overall home loan book grew year-on-year, up by 8.71%, from $144.15 billion to $156.00 billion.
On an individual basis, the MFAA Industry Intelligence Service report showed that the average broker settled $8.50 million in home loans for the period, down 8.01% year-on year from $9.24 million, while year-on-year the value of the average loan book increased to $50.60 million per broker, from $48.57 million, up 4.18%.
The population of 3,083 brokers for the period – up compared to 2,968 a year ago, lodged on average 21.1 loans and this equates to a total of 65,056 loans lodged for the state, for the period, down 12.42% compared to a year ago.
The Happy Finance Company’s David French (pictured above left), who is one of the founders and directors of the Queensland brokerage, said as long as brokers were providing better service, “and most importantly better options than banks”, the industry would continue to see the broker market share increase.
Queensland property sector buoyant
French said the Queensland property sector continued to perform well and this was a positive for Queensland’s broker sector.
“Looking at the valuations for refinances of existing clients, and comparing to their past valuations, we see southeast Queensland has held up well and there are no signs that it will slow down just yet,” French said.
When it comes to running a business there’s always plenty of challenges for brokers and French said keeping up with technology, especially AI, was one of these challenges.
“[It’s challenging looking at] how to best integrate AI into your business so it’s a win for the business and also a win for the clients,” French said. “Channel conflict is also always a challenge so having a good strategy on how best to deal with that is a must.”
MFAA report reinforces member feedback
MFAA CEO Anja Pannek (pictured above right) said her organisation’s report reinforced feedback from members about the impact interest rate rises and record levels of refinancing were having on brokers and their clients.
“The period covered in the report coincided with a period of intense refinancing as fixed rate mortgages reverted to variable, clients encountered serviceability constraints and a moderation of property prices in some markets,” said Ms Pannek.
“This confluence of factors can be seen in this industry research; however, the outstanding service mortgage brokers deliver to their clients has remained a constant throughout this time.”
During the period, nationally mortgage brokers maintained a strong market share, writing 69.6% of all residential home loans in the March 2023 quarter, while in the 12 months to March 2023 mortgage brokers settled a record $358.68 billion in home loans.
The report also shows that in comparison to the October 2021–March 2022 period, the total value of loans settled by mortgage brokers nationally declined 8.63%.
However, Ms Pannek noted that despite this fall the broker channel outperformed the overall home loan lending market nationally.
The MFAA data showed that Queensland is home to 15.9% of the national population of brokers, and Queensland brokers settled 16.2% of the national value of home loans settled.
Queensland brokers earned an average annual gross up-front commission for the period of $110,545, compared to $120,160 the previous year, and $75,901 gross trail for the period, compared to $72,854 last year, for a combined gross commission of $186,446.
In total, this was down by 3.40% from a year ago.
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