Latest Mortgage Broker Statistics

CMHC says 27% of Canadians use mortgage brokers, according to their latest mortgage consumer survey.

This number differs, however, from a recent CIMBL survey--which pegs the number at 31%.

More amazing was the finding that only 43% of mortgage seekers "shopped for several proposals."  The fact that this was not closer to 100% means that tens of thousands of people overpaid for their mortgage in 2006.  (There is little excuse not to utilize a mortgage broker to pit multiple lenders against each other for your benefit.)

CMHC also found that...

• 71% of people refinanced before their mortgage term was up.
• The number of people using mortgage brokers to shop for mortgage renewals jumped from 8% to 13% this past year.

The National Post had a few words about CMHC's survey as well.  They noted that 81% of people renewed their mortgage with their existing lender.  This was largely due to "convenience" (read laziness).

Moreover, many people seem to fear an onerous re-application process.  That is a misconception since the renewal application process is actually a breeze if you let a mortgage broker do the legwork.

One of the major inroads for mortgage brokers in 2006 was with "refi's."  According to the National post, 65% of people stayed with their current lender when refinancing in 2006.  This fell sharply from 83% the prior year, as brokers steered more and more clients into lower cost alternatives.

Comments

[Barb]

interesting how brokers brag about how their market share of the mortgage industry has grown...then they turn around and send the deal back to the BANK! if we are going to get past 30%, we need to focus on non bank lenders.

[Ed]

If non bank lenders had good variable rates maybe we would send them more business!

[Donald Wilson]

The differential advantage to a borrower for using a broker is NOT the fact that the broker sends the deal to a non bank lender, it is that the broker will obtain the best available deal for the borrower, from a bank or a non bank lender.

Brokers should have no loyalty to a particular lender, although it would be disingenuous to suggest that bonusing arrangements have no impact on mortgage placements with different lenders.

Also, commission rates vary from one lender to another, and from one product to another, which means that some brokers measure their income from a deal before they figure out what the best deal for the borrower could be.

These things mean that brokers are inherantly in a conflict of interest with a prime "A" borrower because the placement of the loan can have a huge impact on how much the A broker will earn.

[Glenn Beardsley]

Hello

Can you tell me where I could find Historical Mortgage rates since January 1 1980 until today.

Thanks

[Canadian Mortgage]

Hi Glenn,

Here you go:

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/pdf/annual_page57_page58.pdf

You can fill in the blanks from 2009 here:

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/interest-look.html

Cheers,
-rob

[Loan Modification Services]

Thanks for sharing this informative post.