Hi Accumul8r. I agree largely with most of what you have said,...

Hi Accumul8r.

I agree largely with most of what you have said, but just a few comments.

Yes, the banks have been closing a lot of branches. This seems to be aimed at low revenue areas such as small towns and areas that are struggling economically. It does leave the door open in those locations to independent brokers.

However, the banks don't like to see themselves loosing share of residential mortgages. You have nicely described the multiple reasons why the pot of residential mortgages has shrunk over the last 6-12 months. My thoughts are that the banks have deeper pockets than brokers and for a period of time, they will go out and aggressively "buy" market share back in the high growth, economically stable parts of the country, using financial incentives. In the longer term this is not sustainable and at some time, they will pull back. This is when brokers, with lower cost structures, will come back into their own.

Cheers Westwind