Mortgage Brokers Australia

27 September, 2023
Nina Rinella, Editor-in-Chief, Canstar  || Fact Checked

About mortgage brokers in Australia

A mortgage broker can assist you in the process of applying for a home loan. How do you find a good one, and what do you need to know?

What is a mortgage broker?

A mortgage broker is a financial professional who specialises in helping their clients to find a home loan. Their job is to gather information about the needs of their clients and to suggest lenders and products that match those needs. Once they have helped their client select a home loan, a mortgage broker may also assist the home buyer with the application process.

Should you use a mortgage broker?

Mortgage brokers wrote approximately 71.8% of new residential home loans in the final quarter of last year. This data, released by the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA), reveals that this beat the previous all-time record of 71.7%. Mortgage brokers make up a large portion of the home loan market, but what exactly do they do that a home buyer can’t do themselves?

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What are the pros of using a mortgage broker?

• A broker may be able to explain the financial aspects of buying a home if you aren’t confident in navigating this process by yourself.
• A broker can suggest a range of products based on your situation, enabling you to compare several options, rather than simply going with a provider you already bank with.
• If you don’t have the time to research home loan options yourself, a mortgage broker could do some of that work for you.
• Mortgage brokers are often free to use for borrowers, as they make money by charging a commission to lenders.

What are the cons of using a mortgage broker?

• Mortgage brokers typically act on behalf of a limited selection of lenders with whom they have a commercial arrangement. This means you may not get a full picture of the products available to you, some of which may represent better value.
• Educational qualifications and industry experience can differ between brokers, and so too can the panel of lenders they deal with.
• Using a mortgage broker may still be more time consuming for borrowers than researching options online, or dealing directly with a lender.

What questions should you ask a mortgage broker?

List of mortgage brokers in Australia

According to the MFAA, this is a list of its members who are ‘mortgage aggregators’, which are the larger brokers who act as an intermediary between lenders and individual finance brokers. For example, some of these are franchise groups made up of individual brokers who collectively operate under a single umbrella brand. Well known examples of these are Mortgage Choice and Smartline.