Commercial and business lending gains ground in broker portfolios

Agile Market Intelligence’s 2025 Third-Party Lending Report shows more brokers are diversifying into commercial and business lending, with both segments seeing steady increases in participation and strong future intent. Commercial mortgages remain the most widely written non-residential product, while business loans have seen a surge in broker interest heading into 2025.

Key stats you need to know

• 37% of brokers wrote commercial mortgages in the 12 months to April 2025, while a further 28% are planning to enter the space in the year ahead.
  
  
• Business loans continue to build momentum, with 26% of brokers active in the past year and 23% signalling intent to start writing them in the next 12 months.

• The most common loan size for both commercial and business deals is $1 million to $5 million.

Commercial mortgage writing is stable and high-volume

• Commercial mortgages were written by 37% of brokers in the past year, with an additional 28% planning to start offering them over the next 12 months.
  
  
• Participation has remained consistent over time, fluctuating between 37% and 39% from 2021 to 2022.
  
  
• Most brokers active in this segment write loans between $1 million and $5 million.

Commercial mortgages are now a core part of broker operations, with stable year-on-year activity and strong client demand. Loan size distributions suggest this is a mature, high-value space. Just 3% of brokers report writing loans below $100,000, highlighting a strong middle-market focus.

“We’re seeing commercial mortgages mature into a mainstay for the broker channel. What was once an optional add-on is now a standard part of a diversified portfolio,” said Michael Johnson, Director at Agile Market Intelligence.

‍Business loans are gaining traction

• An additional 23% of brokers intend to start writing business loans in the next 12 months, on top of 26% who have already written in the past year
  
  
• The most common loan size is again $1 million to $5 million, written by 38% of brokers in this segment.
  
  
• Loans under $1 million make up 37% of volumes, reflecting demand from smaller SMEs.

Unlike the steady growth seen in commercial mortgages, business lending has accelerated sharply. It now rivals personal loans in broker participation and has a strong pipeline of new entrants. 38% of brokers report loan volumes of $1 million to $5 million, and another 37% have written loans between $100k to $1 million. Higher-value loans above $10 million remain rare, accounting for just 3% of responses.

“There’s real momentum behind business lending especially among brokers looking to deepen relationships with SME clients beyond property,” said Michael Johnson.

Brokers are building commercial lending capability

• Brokers now write both commercial mortgages (37%) and business loans (26%), signalling a broader shift in broker capabilities.
  
  
• Commercial and business lending are no longer niche plays — they’ve become part of the standard service set for diversified brokers.
  
  
• Forward intent remains strong, particularly for business loans, where one in four brokers (26%) plan to expand into the space.

Brokers are increasingly positioning themselves as full-service finance partners for SME clients moving beyond residential property into working capital and investment lending. The emphasis is shifting from product specialisation to commercial fluency.

“Commercial capability is becoming a baseline expectation. By expanding your product set, it positions you to become relevant to the SME market,” said Michael Johnson.

About the Broker Pulse Third-Party Lending Report

The 2025 Third-Party Lending Report is based on survey responses from over 1,000 Australian residential mortgage brokers collected between February and May 2025. Each broker rated the lenders they submitted deals to over the previous 12 months across 16 attributes, including products, credit, personnel, support, and technology. Attribute scores are presented as percentages of total possible points and weighted equally. Fieldwork was conducted across a 12-month period, with participants including brokers from all aggregator groups and geographies.

You can download the public version of the report here.‍