Why more Australians are turning to mortgage brokers

Mortgage brokers wrote about 76% of all new home loans in Australia in 2025. A decade ago that figure was below 55%. The shift hasn't been gradual — it's accelerated, and it's worth understanding why so many borrowers are making the same call.

The product market has gotten too big

There are over 100 lenders writing residential mortgages in Australia, each with their own credit policies, pricing tiers, and product features. The same borrower presented to two different lenders can get materially different outcomes — different borrowing capacities, different rates, different terms — for reasons unrelated to the borrower's actual financial position.

A bank branch staff member can only sell their own bank's products. A broker can compare across the market, identify the lenders most likely to approve the specific scenario at the best price, and apply where the file is most likely to succeed.

Best Interests Duty changed the dynamic

In 2021, brokers became legally bound by a Best Interests Duty under the National Credit Act. They must act in the consumer's best interests, demonstrate why a particular product is appropriate, and document the comparison. Banks have no equivalent legal obligation to their walk-in customers.

That legal accountability has shifted what consumers expect from the broker channel — and brokers have raised their standards in response.

The cost is invisible to the borrower

Brokers are typically paid by the lender on settlement (upfront commission) and over the life of the loan (trail commission). For the typical residential loan, this costs the borrower nothing — the rate they pay through a broker is the same as they'd pay walking into the branch.

In some cases, brokers get better pricing through wholesale relationships than what's publicly advertised by the same bank.

What brokers actually do, beyond comparison

The work goes beyond rate shopping:

• Borrowing capacity modelling. Running scenarios across multiple lenders to see who lends more, and at what cost.
• Document packaging. Presenting an application in the format each lender's credit team prefers, which materially improves approval speed and certainty.
• Negotiation. Working with the lender to sharpen pricing or extend a discount.
• Ongoing review. Most brokers proactively review their clients' loans every 12–24 months and recommend refinances when the market shifts.
• Education on structure. Offset vs. redraw, fixed vs. variable, package vs. basic — guiding decisions that affect cost across the life of the loan.

Where the broker channel earns its share

For first-home buyers, refinancers, investors with complex portfolios, self-employed borrowers, and anyone with a non-vanilla scenario, the difference between using a broker and not is the difference between a smooth process and a frustrating one. Even for straightforward owner-occupier scenarios, the savings on rate and structure usually justify the choice many times over.

The trend isn't going to reverse. It's becoming the default, and for good reason.