Mortgage Broker Market Share Australia: From 55.7% to a Record 81.6%

In 2017, mortgage brokers were already important — but the market looked very different

I started working as a mortgage broker in 2017. At that point, the broker channel was already a major part of Australian home lending, but it was nowhere near where it is today.

MFAA industry data for the July-to-September 2017 quarter put broker market share at 55.7% of new residential lending. Brokers settled about $197 billion of new residential home loans in the 12 months to September that year.

In simple terms, around 56 out of every 100 new residential home loans were going through a broker.

Today, it is nearly 82 out of every 100. That is not a small change in shopping behaviour. It is a structural change in how Australians access mortgage lending.

Mortgage broker market share Australia reached 81.6% in June 2026

On 3 September 2026, the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia released the latest Cotality market-share data. It showed that mortgage brokers facilitated a record 81.6% of all new residential home loans during the June 2026 quarter.

The result was up from 77.6% in June 2025 and 73.7% in June 2024. It also edged above the previous record of 81.0% from the March 2026 quarter.

Brokers facilitated $139.08 billion in new home lending during the June 2026 quarter alone. That was $17.49 billion more than in the same quarter a year earlier.

The rise did not happen during an easy period for mortgage broking

The part I find most interesting is the timing. Broker market share did not climb from 55.7% to 81.6% during nine quiet years.

Quite the opposite. The industry went through major scrutiny, regulation and disruption. Borrowers also lived through some of the most unusual mortgage conditions Australia has seen.

My first year in broking was also a year of major industry scrutiny

In March 2017, ASIC released its Review of Mortgage Broker Remuneration. The Government had asked ASIC to examine whether remuneration structures affected the quality of consumer outcomes.

Soon afterwards came the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. The entire financial-services sector came under intense examination.

If you had looked at the industry from the outside during that period, you could have reasonably wondered whether consumers would retreat from mortgage brokers.

They did not.

Instead, market share kept growing. That does not prove the scrutiny caused the growth. However, the industry that emerged from those years had stronger obligations and clearer expectations around consumer outcomes.

A significant change in what Australian consumers can expect from a mortgage broker

From 1 January 2021, mortgage brokers became subject to a statutory Best Interests Duty when providing credit assistance to consumers.

ASIC explains that brokers must act in the consumer's best interests. Where a conflict exists, the consumer's interests must receive priority.

In practical terms, good mortgage broking is not simply about finding a lender willing to approve an application.

We need to understand what the customer is trying to achieve, what matters to them, what the loan will cost, which features are useful and which lenders on our panel fit the customer's circumstances.

The recommendation also needs to make sense for that individual customer.

Mortgage broker vs bank: the real difference is bigger than an interest rate

One reason the mortgage broker market share Australia story matters is that home lending has become increasingly difficult to compare on price alone.

A bank can explain the home loans that bank offers. A broker can assess options across the lenders available on their panel.

That does not mean a broker has every lender in Australia. It also does not mean the lowest advertised rate is automatically the best loan.

Policy can be just as important as price.

The Productivity Commission made an important observation in its 2018 inquiry into competition in Australia's financial system. It noted that mortgage brokers had historically helped break down knowledge and capability barriers and had played a role in stronger competition.

The Commission was also critical of conflicts and remuneration structures at the time. That balance matters because the broker story is not about pretending the industry has always been perfect.

It is about understanding why consumers continue to value having someone help them navigate a complicated market.

When rates moved, Australians started asking harder questions about their home loans

The rate cycle beginning in 2022 changed mortgage conversations again.

RBA research found that the average interest rate paid by outstanding mortgage borrowers increased by around 320 basis points between May 2022 and December 2023.

Suddenly, millions of borrowers had a reason to look closely at what they were paying.

The questions became familiar: Is my rate still competitive? Should I refinance? Should I stay with my lender? What happens when my fixed rate ends? Can another lender service the loan? Is moving actually worth the cost?

At Loan Location, I have always believed that a review should answer those questions rather than automatically end in a refinance.

Sometimes moving lender makes sense. Sometimes negotiating with the existing bank is the better result. Sometimes fees, features, future plans or servicing mean the right decision is simply to stay put.

The refinancing boom showed how much borrower behaviour had changed

The Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded a new high for external housing refinancing in July 2023.

Australians refinanced $21.5 billion of housing loans to another lender in that month alone. Owner-occupier refinancing reached a record $14.6 billion.

The RBA also found that borrowers increasingly sought lower mortgage rates by negotiating with their existing lender or refinancing elsewhere during the tightening cycle.

That tells us something important about the modern mortgage customer.

Borrowers now have far more information available to them. They can see rates online, use calculators and research lenders in minutes. Yet the broker channel has continued to grow alongside that technology.

More information has not made every mortgage decision simple

This is one of the biggest changes I have watched since 2017.

The home loan process is far more digital than it used to be. Customers can upload documents, sign electronically, verify identity remotely and research hundreds of loan products from a phone.

You could reasonably expect that technology to reduce the need for mortgage brokers.

Instead, mortgage broker market share Australia climbed from 55.7% to 81.6% across roughly the same period.

I do not see that as a rejection of technology. I see it as a distinction between having information and knowing what to do with it.

A calculator can produce a number. A product page can display a rate. Software can compare fields incredibly quickly.

But borrowers still need to answer a much more personal question: what makes sense for me?

That is also how I see technology changing Loan Location. The best technology should remove repetitive administration, speed up analysis and reduce delays. It should leave more time for the part of the job that matters most: understanding the client and solving the problem.

81.6% does not mean every borrower should automatically use a broker

It is tempting to look at an 81.6% market share and turn it into an advertisement for mortgage broking.

I think the more useful interpretation is simpler.

Australians have a choice between dealing directly with lenders and using mortgage brokers. Over time, an increasing proportion have chosen brokers.

That does not mean every broker is the same. It does not mean every direct bank experience is poor. There are excellent bankers, and some customers know exactly which lender and product they want.

A broker also does not have access to every lender in the country. The lender panel matters, the customer's situation matters, and the quality of the work matters.

After nine years, the job is still about solving the customer's problem

I have now spent nine years helping people buy homes, refinance, invest, build, restructure debt and work out what their next move should be.

Some applications are beautifully straightforward.

Others contain enough twists to qualify for their own Netflix series.

But the part I still enjoy is the same part I enjoyed when I started: solving the problem.

People do not wake up wanting a 30-year mortgage. They want what the mortgage helps them do.

The mortgage is rarely the dream. It is the tool that helps fund the next step.

Mortgage broker market share Australia tells a bigger story than 81.6%

When I started broking in 2017, brokers facilitated 55.7% of new residential home loans.

In 2026, mortgage broker market share Australia has reached a record 81.6%.

Between those numbers came scrutiny, reform, a pandemic, extraordinary interest-rate cycles, major changes in lender policy and a huge shift towards digital banking.

Through all of it, more Australians chose the broker channel.

I do not think there is one single reason. Choice matters. Competition matters. Lending policy has become complex. Borrowers are more willing to shop around. Technology has changed expectations. Best Interests Duty changed the legal framework for brokers.

But after nine years inside the industry, my own explanation is much simpler.

Apparently, more than eight out of ten Australian home loan customers now think having a broker involved is worthwhile.

Having watched the industry move from 55.7% to 81.6%, I think the next chapter will be about combining that human relationship with much better technology.

And that is a future I am very happy to be building Loan Location towards.