IMLA disputes AMI mortgage brokers' predictions

Date:Tuesday 27th January 2009
Author: Max Freedman

The gloomy forecast given this week by the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) for mortgage brokers has been rejected by the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA).

In a statement responding to the AMI, the IMLA acknowledged that mortgage brokers' share of the market went down last year, going from 74 per cent in the first quarter to 61 per cent in the third for owner-occupier mortgages.

But it added: "In practice, the number of intermediary products on the market in January is on the up."

The organisation said that mortgage brokers are "a vital constituent" of the mortgage market and predicted the balance between brokers' and direct lending to recover, although it acknowledged that the coming year will not be easy.

Earlier this week, the AMI predicted a "gloomy" mortgage market for 2009.

Director Robert Sinclair said that government measures to revive the market have not yet been fully implemented and warned that mortgage brokers may find they have less share of the market during the year.