The Australian mortgage broking market
Property is a major asset in Australia and many people aspire to the dream of ‘owning their own home’. Many others build a property investment portfolio by adding another or multiple investment properties.
For the 12 months ending 31 December 2007, Mortgage Choice customers had $11.608 billion in loans approved. The total mortgage market experienced strong growth in loan approvals of 10.2% p.a. (approx. $16.916 billion) to $182.284 billion, according to figures compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for its Housing Finance for Owner Occupation Report, 5609.0
Much has been written about the state of the housing market. Although there have been recent rate rises, in February and March 2008, borrower demand remains strong.
The growth prospects of the mortgage broking industry are looking positive. A recent report by JP Morgan Fujitsu confirmed its strong position, saying the proportion of broker originated home loans is now around 40% of all new housing lending volumes. This is a great achievement for an industry barely 16 years old.
The mortgage broker proposition is appealing to all participants, i.e. the consumers, the lenders and the brokers themselves. There is no doubt the consumer is the winner and has driven the growth of the industry against a backdrop of an ever-increasing and complex array of product offerings.
The predicted growth of the mortgage broking industry lends itself to an exciting future where expert knowledge, convenience and choice of property loan advice will become the standard by which borrowers assess their home loan needs.