Hiring drive as ASB expects home loan applications surge

ASB is on a hiring drive to recruit 80 additional home ownership specialists as it prepares for a surge in home loan applications.

About 80% of homeowners are expected to refix their mortgages within the next year, Reserve Bank data show.

While ASB has recruited most of the 80 specialists, there are still some roles being advertised.

The specialists will work across the bank’s in-house home ownership team and mortgage adviser-led business.

AdviceHQ director and former banker David Green says the workload has exploded as borrowers have refixed more frequently at six-month and one-year rates instead of the longer term two-, three- and five- year rates and that needs to be resourced.

“What we have seen is the major banks, in particular, seem to struggle with managing these ebbs and flows in the market.” 

He says it would be interesting to know why ASB ended up in this situation. “What was its hiring policy in the property market downturn?

“It feels like its staffing dropped away in the downturn and when the property market turned the resource wasn’t there. It would be interesting to know what its recruitment was like over the past three years. I imagine it was quite a different picture. Is this a response to not recruiting over that period?”

iLender mortgage specialist Jeff Royle, who has been vocal about the recent delays in getting bank mortgage applications turned around, says at an adviser get together yesterday the main topic of conversation was mental health, brought on by banks and turnaround times.

For example, one bank is taking nearly a month to turnaround a non-urgent pre-approval, he says. “I have never known turnaround times to be so bad. They were bad at the end of last year, they are worse now. As advisers we get the flack.”

He says it is “awesome” the ASB is doing something and is it to be welcomed with open arms.

The ASB says with many borrowers having locked in short-term rates when interest rates were higher, the bank is now seeing a change in client behaviour, with people starting to fix for longer terms.

Personal banking executive general manager Adam Boyd as a result of falling rates, the bank expects 55% of its home loan customers will have locked in rates under 6% by December this year, compared to 40% in March. 

ASB is also simplifying its refinance process so that mortgage borrowers coming to the end of their fixed rate term at another bank can receive a decision on moving to an ASB loan quicker and more easily.

For its mortgage adviser-led business, ASB has introduced a system to improve the quality of applications being submitted so they can be processed more quickly.   

“We are seeing elevated demand for our home loans,” Boyd says.  

By growing our teams and enhancing our refinance process, we’ll be able to turn around applications faster, both for our customers and the mortgage advisers we work with, he says.

ASB has dropped fixed rate mortgages six times this year. Its one-year fixed term rate of 4.99% is in line with ANZ, Westpac and Kiwibank.