RBA to hold rates in September, say majority of brokers in HashChing survey

An overwhelming percentage of mortgage brokers say the central bank will hold rates at its September rate meeting, according to a survey of home loan marketplace  HashChing.

The survey was conducted across a cross-section of its broker network. 

More than 90 percent (93.62 percent) surveyed said rates would be on hold. 

The central bank has held rates constant at a record low of 1.5 percent for the last 12 months.

Here are the results of HashChing's survey, which included other metrics as well:

• 93.62% of brokers believe that interest rates will stay on hold in September
• 67.57% of mortgage brokers do not think that 'robo-adivice' has the potential to put them out of business, while 19.82% are unsure
• 78.38% of brokers expect a growth in business in the lead up to spring selling season
• 56.76% of brokers think it takes 3 days for banks to process a home loan application, while 19.82% think it can take up to a week, 17.12% think up to 24 hours, and 6.31% think between 2-3 weeks

At the same time as the release of the survey results, Siobhan Hayden, COO of HashChing, said  robo-advice platforms were not likely to pose a threat to mortgage brokers.

“I think the two work best as complementary rather than competitive solutions. I expect we’ll continue to see robo-advice used to accommodate the administrative side of a broker’s work, leaving brokers with more time to work on lead generation, face-to-face interactions and professional development.”

Hayden added that at the end of the day, customers use brokers because they want an expert – not a machine – to help them with their home loan. 

“As clever as technologies like machine learning and predictive analytics are, these will never be able to fully address the complexities and nuances of interacting with a human as well as another human can."