![Broker settlements hit new high for March quarter](/images/news/uptick_graph.jpg)
The value of settled loans written by brokers over the March quarter hit a new record, with broker market share for the quarter rising to 57.5 per cent.
According to the latest data released by research group comparator (a CoreLogic business) and commissioned by the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA), in the three months to March 2021, the value of new settlements increased 27 per cent year-on-year to reach a new record for the period.
A whopping $62.2 billion of residential mortgages were settled by brokers in the first quarter of the calendar year, a significant increase on March 2020 figures, when the value of settlements rose 37.5 per cent to $49 billion.
As well as being the largest figure recorded for the March quarter, the volume is also the second largest for any period since the MFAA first commissioned the dataset in 2013. The record settlement overall was achieved in the previous quarter (ending December 2020), when $64.1 billion in home loans were settled by brokers.
As well as achieving the second-highest settlement value since records began, the third-party channel also achieved their second highest-market share for the quarter.
The data shows that 57.7 per cent of all new residential home loans came from brokers during the March 2021 quarter, up 5.4 percentage points than the March 2020 quarter.
Noting the achievements, MFAA CEO Mike Felton said the result was made even more significant by the lender turnaround and discharge issues that hampered the channel during the quarter, after peaking in January of 2021.
Mr Felton noted that data released by major aggregator AFG earlier this year showed that turnaround times had also spiked to a three-year high for AFG brokers to a median across all lenders of 27.1 days for the quarter ending 31 March 2021 which he said would “no doubt have hampered mortgage broker market share for the quarter”.
“This outstanding broker market share result, however, provides encouraging signs for the potential market share mortgage brokers could attain if turnaround differentials between branches and the broker channel for the major banks are eradicated and discharges start to occur within a reasonable period, both of which remain a key focus for the MFAA,” Mr Felton said.
“Ultimately, these results show yet again the resilience of brokers who continue to meet and overcome the external challenges they face, thanks to an unwavering focus on customer outcomes and professional service.”
[Related: Turning round the turnarounds]
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