NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 03:55 ET
- Australian mortgage-broking leaders closed out 2025 pointing to falling rates and record broker market share as tailwinds.
- Major banks’ policy moves on company and trust lending and a stepped-up compliance focus kept brokers busy into year-end.
- Podcast listening trends in the sector tracked the same themes: technology, broker relevance, and what comes next for housing.
Australian mortgage brokers wrapped up 2025 with momentum from falling interest rates and a growing share of home-loan origination, even as bank rule changes and regulators’ scrutiny kept the sector on its toes.
Mortgage Professional Australia said the October-to-December quarter was one of the year’s most unpredictable stretches, marked by “shock lending decisions” and fresh regulatory pressure alongside shifting Reserve Bank of Australia expectations. Mpamag
Why it matters now: brokers are heading into 2026 with more borrowers shopping around as rates ease, but also with lenders tightening policies in pockets of the market that can quickly reroute deal flow.
It also matters because the battleground is changing. Banks are investing more heavily in proprietary channels — direct-to-bank distribution — while the broker channel argues it remains central to competition and access, especially for complex borrowers.
MPA pointed to long-running frictions that stayed in play through 2025, including clawbacks — when a lender seeks to recover broker commissions after early loan repayment — and “channel conflict,” the industry shorthand for tensions when lenders prioritize direct channels over third-party brokers.
The publication said year-end action included a major proprietary lending push by ANZ and decisions by some major lenders to restrict company and trust lending, a segment popular with certain investors and small-business borrowers.
Regulators also featured prominently in the final quarter, with MPA highlighting heightened attention on higher-risk lending and private credit — typically non-bank lending that sits outside traditional bank balance sheets but has been expanding globally.
At the same time, industry media coverage portrayed 2025 as a year of strong broker performance, with MPA citing record-high broker market share in home lending and broader visibility in commercial finance.
Those themes carried into audio, too. Broker Daily said its most popular podcasts of 2025 focused on falling rates, record broker market share and the growing role of artificial intelligence in broking workflows. Brokerdaily
Episodes highlighted lenders’ technology strategies and debated whether brokers remain relevant as AI tools improve — a question that has started showing up not just in fintech circles, but in mainstream mortgage distribution planning.
Broker Daily also flagged post-election housing policy as a key uncertainty for 2026, reflecting industry focus on how government decisions can alter demand, affordability, and lending settings.
