Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com, warns that the days of brokers offering whole of market products are over and consumers using mortgage brokers need to be aware that the product range may be limited.
In separate research of Moneyfacts data, HSBC found that direct deals accounted for 93% of the lowest interest rates over the last two years across the four most popular mortgage categories: two-year fixed, five-years fixed, two-year trackers or discounts and lifetime trackers.
HSBC revealed that the average difference between the best broker and direct mortgage deals was 0.31%.
Mountford says: “Traditionally mortgage brokers have had the pick of the best deals on the market, with lenders often offering them better deals than they were able to give to their customers direct.
“However, the financial turmoil in the last couple of years has seen the mortgage market turned on its head and due to the lack of supply and high demand lenders can take full advantage of the current situation rather than having to push their products through brokers, which they previously relied on.”
He adds that consumers are growing increasingly savvy over finances and how important it is to shop around for the best deal.
Martijn van der Heidjen, head of mortgages at HSBC, says: “No one can argue that shopping around isn’t the most sensible approach to take when looking for a new mortgage. Going to a broker can be a useful part of this process, but as our research clearly shows it definitely shouldn’t be seen as the route to guaranteeing you the best deal.”
