After listening to feedback from brokers, a national mortgage manager has revealed that it will soon launch a new mortgage product for overseas buyers.
Better Choice has this year consolidated Iden Loan Services, Future Financial and Pioneer Mortgage Services under the Better Choice brand and is now providing prime residential loans to owner-occupiers and investors, complementing its existing specialist and low doc residential and commercial product range.
Product innovation has been a high priority for the mortgage manager, which distributes exclusively through the broker channel and has eight different funders.
“One of the things that our brokers have told us is that they need a non-resident product,” Better Choice head of relationship management Natalie Sheehan told The Adviser.
“We currently offer a mortgage to expats. As of next week, we will be offering a non-resident product. That’s for foreign investors purchasing residential and commercial real estate in Australia.
“This is something we have been trying to bring to market for a while. We have the funding in place and will be bringing that product to market next week.”
The major banks pulled out of the non-resident lending market in 2015. Only a handful of lenders still offer mortgages to foreign buyers.
But innovative products have been a blessing for Better Choice, which has seen a 70 per cent spike in settlement volumes after expanding its product suite in July.
Investor and interest-only mortgages have been hugely popular as the banks use pricing and policy levers to limit the growth of these products.
Ms Sheehan said: “We definitely listen to what our brokers are telling us and it is clear they are struggling to find a solution for their clients because of the tightening up of servicing.
“Also the tightening up of policy around investment lending. When brokers are looking for products, we are talking to our funders and looking at new product design.
“We have been able to deliver additional choice and convenience to our brokers, who in turn can now offer better solutions to their clients.
“Having multiple funders allows us to choose a range of options to meet our brokers’ needs for a tailored solution for their clients, all under one umbrella. This also allows us to seamlessly transition existing specialist borrowers into a prime solution as their credit profile improves.”
