Brokers at par with banks on new mortgages – CAAMP. – Consult a Vancouver Mortgage Broker for more information

Broker gripes aside, the new mortgage rules may have helped them grow market share, with CAAMP’s latest report suggesting brokers are now even Stephen with banks in terms of new mortgage originations.

Of consumers who consulted mortgage professionals, 47 per cent of 2,000 respondents obtaining mortgages this year did so through a bank, while 47 per cent went with mortgage brokers, according to the CAAMP-commissioned online poll by Maritz Research.

Banks, however, enjoyed a substantial lead over brokers in renewals, cornering 70 per cent of the business as opposed to brokers’ 15 per cent and credit unions’ 12 per cent.

In the aggregate, for all current mortgages (regardless of when they were obtained), 58 per cent of respondents obtained their loans from a bank, with 25 per cent from a mortgage broker. That’s down from the 27 per cent overall share brokers enjoyed last fall.

Still this fall’s new originations represent real growth for brokers, growing from 32 per cent in fall 2011.

Nonetheless, many brokers have complained that lending guidelines and rule changes introduced by the Harper government have been overkill for a market already in slow-down mode.

“The government was putting out a fire that was already dying,” said Paul Sobieski, of The Mortgage Group in Vancouver in an earlier interview.  “We were headed for a correction anyway.”

But there’s some indication they have also encouraged more consumers to turn to brokers for new originations, if not yet renewals and refis.