A survey of mortgage brokers from Australia’s leading mortgage broker platform HashChing has revealed how the global pandemic is affecting mortgage broker sentiment on the future of their industry.
CEO of HashChing, Arun Maharaj, said it was no secret that the outbreak of COVID-19 was having a drastic impact on the Australian economy, and the mortgage broker industry was already feeling its impacts.
“The majority of respondents in our latest survey (65%) said they believed the current lockdowns would last for at least 6 months. It’s clear that brokers are quickly adjusting to a new normal, with 67% of respondents saying they were ready to roll with teleworking, and another 27% saying they were just getting started.
“While this is a promising start, a positive and committed attitude to teleworking must remain in order for the industry to stay afloat. I’d strongly encourage all brokers to do their due diligence in getting set up and comfortable with working and communicating with customers remotely.
“The challenges of transitioning a business to a fully digital operation often takes years – but brokers are being forced to do this in a matter of months. It’s a significant challenge, and one that is no doubt placing a lot of pressure on mortgage brokers who, like many other professionals, are already reporting a significant loss in revenue,” continued Mr Maharaj.
What other findings did this HashChing research gather?
Brokers also report that they don’t feel fully supported by the government during this time, 63% said more targeted support was needed to help the industry survive.
“I commend the government for the raft of economic funding announcements that have been implemented to help businesses, including brokers, stay in operation. Brokers are however understandably apprehensive about whether this funding will go far enough. With such widespread economic devastation, it’s not surprising that 87% of survey respondents are expecting property prices to fall this year.”
The good news is that the majority (77%) of respondents are confident that mortgage broking can be done, fully compliant, online.
“Mortgage brokers can, and will, weather this storm as long as the right support mechanisms are put into place. At HashChing, we’re working extremely hard to update existing tools as well as to introduce new ones to allow mortgage brokers to be able to efficiently transition their businesses to a digital-led model.
“We’re helping our mortgage brokers effectively communicate with existing and potential customers whilst also putting in place the technology to ensure their actions remain completely compliant with relevant legislation,” concluded Mr Maharaj.
