Print friendly version 13 May 2008

Mortgage advisers' sentiment falls

The proportion of mortgage advisers saying business will get better over the next quarter has nearly halved from 60% to 33%, according to Legal & General (L&G).

Research from the insurer also found that the proportion of advisers saying business will get worse has doubled from 16% to 33%. A third of advisers, however, are still predicting that next quarter will produce better times for the housing market.

Around 20% of advisers said they expected protection sales to be worse over the next quarter, compared to 13% in L&G’s last report. However, 41% of advisers expect overall protection sales to increase over the next three months.

The proportion of advisers predicting that remortgaging will account for more than 60% of their business has risen, with 15% now saying that the entirety of their business will be derived from remortgages.

Stephen Smith, director of housing at L&G, said: “Remortgage business again seems to be taking centre stage as the proportion of house purchase mortgage business is set to be eroded. Any borrowers coming to the end of mortgage deals this year are going to need sound financial advice, so the intermediary channel has never been more important.

“Mortgage advisers have a far greater scope to source mortgages and exclusive products through mortgage networks than any borrower could ever hope to find on their own. Lenders that try and cut advisers out of the loop are treading a dangerous path."

STAY UP TO DATE: Subscribe to email alerts Subscribe to RSS