What’s driving broker recommendations?

Based on responses from 908 mortgage brokers across Australia between August and October 2025, the Broker Pulse: Residential Lending survey found that client fit, product pricing, and turnaround times were the most common reasons for a broker recommending a lender.

Although there were some standout firms, no single lender dominated across all criteria. Instead, different lenders were recommended for different strengths.

Client fit drives non-bank recommendations

Pepper Money stood out as the lender most strongly recommended by brokers for client fit. Ninety per cent of brokers who submitted applications to Pepper Money said they would recommend the lender because its offerings matched their clients’ circumstances.

Other lenders also rated highly for client fit, including MA Money (89 per cent), Liberty Financial (86 per cent), and Thinktank (86 per cent).

Michael Johnson, director at Agile Market Intelligence, noted that non-bank lenders were favoured when it came to client fit.​

“Non-traditional lenders may offer more flexible solutions to their clients as they are not bound to the stringent regulations traditional banks are regulated by,” Johnson said.

“This allows such lenders to offer solutions which would match the circumstances and needs of their respective clients.”

Pricing a key differentiator

When it comes to product pricing, People’s Choice and Newcastle Permanent were the most frequently recommended lenders, with 83 per cent of brokers who submitted applications to each citing pricing as the primary reason.

These were followed by BCU and HSBC, with 78 per cent of brokers saying they recommended these lenders for pricing. ING rounded out the top five, with 69 per cent of brokers recommending the lender due to its pricing.

As such, mid-tier banks seem to be preferred by brokers for the competitiveness of their pricing.

Turnaround time sets Macquarie apart

For turnaround time, Macquarie Bank led the way for broker recommendations. Forty-two per cent of brokers who submitted applications to Macquarie recommended the lender based on the speed of its turnaround times.

Assetline followed suit, with 33 per cent of brokers recommending the lender because of its speed-to-yes, while BCU and UBank were recommended by 22 per cent and 19 per cent of brokers for speed, respectively.

NAB and CBA were the only major banks to feature in the top 10 recommended lenders for turnaround time.

[Related: Non-banks outshine majors on risk and access: AFIA]