The Board of the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) today ceased the membership of around 1,500 brokers who failed to become adequately qualified.

MFAA Chief Executive Phil Naylor said the members failed to abide by the Board’s requirement to successfully complete the Certificate IV in Financial Services (Finance and Mortgage Broking) in time.

“This MFAA wishes to raise — and recognise — the level of professionalism among its members, who provide valuable advice and services to their clients,” Mr Naylor said.
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Many mortgage brokers are fearful of their ongoing existence and are calling on broker groups to assist them in broadening the range of services they offer clients, new research shows.

A third (32 per cent) of mortgage brokers are of the opinion the traditional pure mortgage broking model is no longer commercially viable, preliminary results from the annual CoreData Mortgage Broker Affection study reveal.

Many broker businesses in Australia have struggled to adapt to reduced revenue streams, as lenders cut commissions and the global economic crisis reduced residential lending volumes, but many brokers appear willing to now adjust business models.
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Mortgage brokers are being forced out of the industry because of shrinking market share as financially worried Australian consumers turn to the security of the major banks, a survey finds.

The departure of so many mortgage brokers has raised concerns that the big four banks are tightening their grip on the industry and will lessen competition for home lending.

The market share of non-bank lenders shrank to 6.8 per cent by December 2008,from 21.2 per cent of lending commitments to owner occupiers in July 2007, which was just before the global financial began, market analyst Datamonitor found.
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