Brokers are essential to making the dream a reality
The Great Australian Dream is alive and kicking despite a persistently daunting market for first-home buyers.
Mortgage Choice’s latest quarterly Home Loan Report, which polled 1,000 customers across Australia, revealed that owning property is the number-one financial resolution for a third of the population in 2025.
Furthermore, buyer sentiment is trending in the right direction, with 23% of prospective buyers feeling more confident about their purchase plans in the December quarter, up from 17% in the previous quarter.
“Consumer confidence plays an important role in the property market, as it can determine whether people are more likely to list their homes for sale or make an offer to buy property,” said Anthony Waldron (pictured), Mortgage Choice chief executive.
Optimism was most pronounced in Western Australia and Queensland, where 30% and 27% of buyers expressed confidence, respectively. The surge in optimism comes as the Reserve Bank of Australia moves tantalisingly close to lowering interest rates for the first time in more than four years.
However, the Mortgage Choice report highlighted significant ongoing challenges for buyers entering, or already in, the market.
“Although sentiment is on the rise, it is clear consumers are facing hurdles on their journey to property ownership, such as high property values, lack of affordable property supply and uncertainty around how to negotiate when making a purchase,” said Waldron.
Respondents also cited general confusion of the home-buying process, particularly with issues surrounding stamp duty and conveyancing. They also struggle to compare or evaluate home loan offers effectively.
Alongside this lack of negotiating and purchasing knowledge, the Mortgage Choice report suggested that interest rate stability has led to “complacency” among one in four borrowers, who said they hadn’t reviewed their home loan in over a year.
“To me, this says borrowers could be missing an opportunity to lower their repayments simply by reviewing their loan,” said Waldron.
Nonetheless, refinancing activity saw an uptick in December, with the year-on-year change in value increasing by 10% following three straight quarters of declines. “When home loan interest rates start to fall, I expect refinancing activity to surge,” said Waldron.
Brokers are essential
Brokers are playing a critical role in helping with these issues, said Waldron. “A broker will help buyers understand their borrowing capacity so they can refine their property search and bid at auction with confidence.
“And, when they’re ready to apply for a home loan, brokers will guide them through the process from application through to settlement.”
The report highlighted that the Gen Z age bracket is finding the market particularly challenging. Only 4% of Gen Z respondents said they faced no hurdles on their journey to home ownership, compared to 34% of Millennials, 57% of Gen X and 70% of Baby Boomers.
“Purchasing a property can be a daunting process, especially for those who’ve never done it before, which is why it’s so important to speak to a mortgage broker early in the process,” said Waldron.
Most buyers appear to have received the message, given that close to 75% of mortgage applications now originate via the broker channel, per MFAA’s latest data.
Some industry players, including Loan Market, see this market share topping 80% by the end of the year.
Housing issues to the fore
Housing policies are unequivocally one of the most important issues for voters as the next Federal election looms.
The Mortgage Choice report showed that housing-related policies were the most important issues for 96% of respondents who are planning to buy property, up from 89% in the previous quarter.
Within this group, 56% rated housing affordability; 37% rated increasing housing supply; and 35% rated providing more support for first-home buyers as the most important issues.
“As we wait for the next Federal election to be called, the report research showed consistent trends regarding the importance of housing-related issues to Australian voters,” said Waldron.
“Owning a home has long-been the Great Australian Dream, and despite the challenges of getting into the market, our survey shows that Australians still see property as key to building their wealth.
“When you consider that national home prices have risen over 46% over the last five years, it’s unsurprising that Australians hold such a strong desire to own property.”
