The study by BDRC Continental for Halifax found that brokers’ confidence in the intermediary market had fallen from 56% to 52% between the fourth quarter of 2011 and the same period last year.
During the same period confidence in the wider market fell five percentage points to 51% while the number of business cases submitted by a broker fell to 64.
When compared to the previous quarter results were improved but brokers’ year-on-year confidence in their own firms fell from 81% to 79%. However the survey suggested brokers are feeling increasingly optimistic for the coming year.
Ian Wilson, head of Halifax Intermediaries, commented: “Whilst the economic outlook remains challenging, we are seeing a slight easing of funding pressures, leading to an increasing number of lenders reducing rates and launching new products to the market, providing further optimism.”
The latest Mortgage Solutions People’s Poll suggested that brokers were feeling confident about the coming year.
Following comments from Countrywide chief Grenville Turner in which he said he expected a wave of high LTV products to arrive in the first half of the year, 63% of respondents agreed that such changes would reignite the wider market.
