Aussie Home Loans reports best monthly results since 2009 Wizard acquisition

John Symond’s Aussie Home Loans has reported a 27% year-on-year rise in both mortgage lodgement and settlements in October, its best monthly results since acquiring the Mark Bouris-founded Wizard Home Loans franchise in early 2009.

The October results build on a successful first quarter for Aussie, which recorded an overall settlement increase of 19% over the last year.

Aussie says the results reflect interest and enquiries from home buyers and refinancers and are a reflection of its marketing campaign “It’s smart to ask” fronted by Symond himself as well as more customer care initiatives and increased productivity from its 750 mortgage brokers.

The mortgage broker and lender, which is one-third owned by the Commonwealth Bank, did not provide actual dollar figures with this update.

“We have not seen enormous sales results like this since March 2009, when we acquired Wizard, so these results are exceptional, considering the soft market conditions and given they don’t include any acquisitions or other anomalies,” says Symond.

“Our first quarter has also been pleasing, with profit above budget as our sales team continues to deliver record settlements, supported by strong results from our Aussie home loan and non-mortgage product range.”

Aussie says all states recorded “strong settlement growth versus the prior year” but says there were “stellar performances from WA and Queensland”, which recorded 53% and 42% increases respectively.

Leads were up 35% on last year and at their highest level since 2006, “demonstrating continued customer support for the Aussie brand and mortgage broking overall”.

“Despite widespread pessimism about the state of the housing market, it appears that house prices have bottomed and there is a slight improvement in consumers’ confidence,” says Symond.