Insights · editorial
Long-form editorial on Australian mortgage lending.
Pieces on panel structure, lender policy dynamics, market history and the strategic frame behind broker work. The voice is analytical, not advisory — Stratechery for Australian mortgage broking. The aim is to explain the why of what the industry does, in a register accountants, financial planners and informed borrowers can use as background reading.
Explain the why. Cite the panel. Quote the policy.
The essays here aren't borrower-facing how-tos and they aren't product marketing. They're structural analysis of how the lending market works — which is the actual question a borrower or their accountant is usually trying to answer before they pick up the phone. Why banks decline some files and write others. Why the panel spread on borrowing capacity is 20-40%. Why Big-4 banks withdrew from SMSF. Why calculator- first broking is a more honest model than calculator-second.
Westpac cuts owner-occupier rates 18bp as funding costs ease
Westpac's 18 basis point cut to 5.99% signals improved funding conditions and competitive pressure in the owner-occupier market.
Read the essay →The panel spread — why the same file gets two different answers
A borrower with one income, one deposit and one credit file walks into two brokerages and gets borrowing capacity numbers $300,000 apart. The variance isn't broker incompetence. It's the panel spread, and it's structural.
Read the essay →The 2018-2020 SMSF lender withdrawal — and why it still shapes the market
Between 2018 and 2020 the major Australian banks quietly exited residential SMSF lending. The decision moved billions in flow from the prime tier to a small group of non-bank specialists. The structural consequences are still being played out today.
Read the essay →Calculator-first broking — the strategic frame for modern lending
The mainstream broker pitch is "let us run the numbers for you." The calculator-first version is "run them yourself first, then we work the panel against them." The latter is the right model for the next decade — and the gap explains where the industry is going.
Read the essay →