NZers generally don't know about mortgage advice: New reseach

Mortgage advisers are largely unknown to the public according to a new piece of research.

Thursday, October 3rd 2024, 8:44AM 3 Comments

New research, commissioned by the Finance and Mortgage Advisers Association of NZ , says that the majority of New Zealanders are unfamiliar with the services offered by mortgage advisers, with only 28% indicating that they are extremely or very familiar.

Twenty two per cent are “not familiar at all”, rising to 34% of non-mortgage holders.

The results come as a surprise considering nearly two thirds of home loans originated by the big banks come from mortgage advisers and the percentage is arguably higher for the small banks.

FAMNZ managing director Peter White says the lack of awareness about mortgage advisers is “alarming and embarrassing.”

“It’s clear that we must do things differently so that more New Zealanders understand the advantages we bring,” he said.

“It starts with stepping out of complacency, working together, improving our communications and marketing, and for all advisers to be part of a professional industry body so that we have a louder voice.”

Even more frustrating, he says, is that more than a of respondents believe they need to pay a fee to access a mortgage adviser while the same percentage isn’t sure. This is despite the fact that the majority of mortgage advisers don’t charge any fee.

Reinforcing this lack of knowledge, three out of every four respondents were either unsure (49%) or incorrectly believe there is an extra cost (25%) when working with a mortgage adviser, and 28% agreed with the false statement that “mortgage advisers are too expensive for me to use” while 41% were not sure.

“These misconceptions are clearly hurting us and must be addressed urgently,” White said.

Tags: FAMNZ

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Comments from our readers

On 3 October 2024 at 4:49 pm Amused said:

I’m pretty sure if mortgage advisers commissioned their own research into New Zealanders awareness of the professional bodies attached to the financial services industry these results would show associations have next to “zero” presence with the NZ consumer who doesn’t see any advantage in dealing with a mortgage adviser who is a member. With licensing’s arrival it’s telling that the FMA didn't make membership of an association compulsory and none of the lenders require an adviser to be an association member to hold accreditation with them.

As noted above mortgage advisers in New Zealand originate over 60% of the new home loan business the banks write annually now, and we got there without associations help thank you.

The debacle we have recently witnessed with the Commerce Commission recommending all mortgage advisers submit a client’s application to at least three lenders illustrates clearly that associations are now struggling to demonstrate relevancy.

On 4 October 2024 at 2:22 pm The Terrace said:

And in the non-bank space it's likely close to 100% of the business.

On 7 October 2024 at 4:27 pm Superman said:

Amused - you nailed it. The ecosystem of associations and industry 'bodies' propped up by practitioners is oversaturated, adds questionable value and is due rationalisation soon.

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