Mortgage Broker vs Bank: Why 3 in 4 Australians Now Choose a Broker
Introduction
Here’s a statistic that surprises a lot of people outside the finance industry: mortgage brokers arranged 76.7% of all new home loans written in Australia in the December 2025 quarter, according to the MFAA’s Cotality-compiled Quarterly Market Share Report. That’s not a niche channel anymore — it’s the majority pathway most Australians now use to finance property.
To put that in context: broker market share sat at 67.2% in June 2023, climbed to 71.5% by September 2023, hit 74.6% by September 2024, then reached a record 77.6% in the June 2025 quarter before settling at 76.7% by December 2025 — still the strongest December quarter result since the MFAA began tracking the data back in 2013.
So why the shift, and does it make sense for you?
What a Mortgage Broker Actually Does Differently to a Bank
A bank’s home loan specialist can only offer you that bank’s own products. A mortgage broker works across a panel of lenders — often 30 or more banks, credit unions, and non-bank lenders — and is obligated under the Best Interests Duty to recommend a loan that suits your circumstances, not just whatever their employer happens to be selling that month.
MFAA CEO Anja Pannek has attributed the accelerating shift toward brokers largely to rising lending complexity: more borrowers now have circumstances — self-employment, irregular income, multiple properties, non-standard deposits — that a single lender’s standard credit policy doesn’t comfortably accommodate. A broker’s job is to know which of their 30-plus lenders will actually say yes, and on what terms.
The Self-Employed Borrower Problem
This is where the broker-vs-bank gap tends to be widest in practice. Major bank credit assessment is generally built around straightforward PAYG income. A self-employed applicant — sole trader, company director, trust structure — often has genuine income that’s higher than what their tax return alone suggests, once legitimate add-backs (depreciation, one-off expenses) are accounted for.
A broker who specialises in self-employed lending knows which lenders on their panel use add-back assessment methodologies and which don’t. The difference in assessed borrowing capacity between a generic bank assessment and a specialist lender assessment, for the same applicant, can be substantial enough to change what property you’re realistically shopping for.
When Going Direct to a Bank Still Makes Sense
To be fair to the direct-to-bank path: if you have simple, strong PAYG income, an existing relationship with a lender offering genuinely competitive pricing, and a straightforward application, going direct can work perfectly well. The efficiency of an existing relationship has real value in time-sensitive settlement situations. It’s worth comparing what a broker could source against your bank’s offer before assuming either path is automatically better.
- Confirm MFAA or FBAA membership — the two peak industry bodies for finance brokers in Australia, both requiring ongoing education and compliance standards.
- Verify their Australian Credit Licence or credit representative status directly on ASIC Connect.
- Ask how many lenders are on their panel, and whether that panel actually includes non-bank and specialist lenders, not just the big four plus a couple of second-tier banks.
- Ask about their specific experience with your situation — self-employed, investment portfolio, first home buyer schemes, refinancing.
- Check verified reviews from real clients rather than relying on a single personal recommendation.
Finding a Mortgage Broker on AgentFind
AgentFind lists mortgage brokers searchable by suburb and specialisation, with verified reviews from confirmed client interactions. Rather than comparing brokers purely on advertised rate — which tells you little about whether they can actually get your specific application approved — you can filter by the kind of borrower experience that’s actually relevant to your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
In the large majority of cases, no. Brokers are paid by the lender, typically through an upfront commission plus a smaller ongoing trail commission. This must be disclosed to you in writing, and under the Best Interests Duty, the broker's recommendation must still be justifiable as suited to your circumstances regardless of how commission varies between lenders.
Generally the opposite — a broker typically pre-assesses your eligibility before submitting a formal application, which can mean fewer hard credit enquiries than approaching several banks individually yourself.
The MFAA points to increasing lending complexity — more borrowers with circumstances outside simple PAYG serviceability — combined with sustained consumer-facing campaigns that have driven awareness of the "Find a Broker" search pathway.
Search by specialisation rather than just location. AgentFind allows filtering for self-employed lending, investment portfolios, and first home buyer scenarios specifically, alongside verified client reviews.
