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p>A growing number of mortgage brokers are considering doing business in the commercial mortgage arena, according to the ifs School of Finance. Latest figures show that the number of brokers taking the ifs Certificate in Commercial Mortgages (CeCM) qualifications has been steadily increasing in recent months.
According to the data, almost 300 brokers took the CeCM qualification between January and May 2008, and ifs expects numbers to increase in future.
The new trend has been blamed on the ongoing turmoil of the credit crunch, and the resulting stagnation in the residential property market, may be responsible for the move to commercial mortgage broking.
The ifs School of Finance says buy-to-let business is likely to continue to grow despite the credit crunch, but believes the market will focus more on professional property investors.
Mark Roberts, head of financial regulation at the ifs School of Finance, says: “The most recent NACFB member survey suggested that buy-to-let mortgages was an area of big growth in 2007 amounting to £9.7bn of business (compared to £4.7bn in 2006).
“Brokers should not be put off by tales of doom and gloom in the buy-to-let sector following the credit squeeze because whilst the amateur buy-to-let investor may well have had his day - as a result of declining property prices and a lack of mortgage credit - professional investors with large property portfolios appear to be doing very well indeed.”
In February, Nottingham Building Society announced that it was looking to work with brokers that want to add commercial mortgage services to their existing businesses. Nottingham said much of the network of 2,500 brokers it already has relationships with are not commercial specialists and it wants to help firms to diversify into the market.
Chris Parker, head of intermediary sales at Nottingham Building Society, says commercial mortgages are a key part of the Society’s strategy and wants to work with brokers to increase business volumes.
“We need to grow the number of intermediaries we are doing business with on a regular basis – and I am keen to work with a mix of brokers, some who already specialise in commercial mortgages, and others who want to offer commercial finance facilities to their existing residential portfolio,” he says.
He says Nottingham can work with intermediary firms who are considering adding commercial mortgage advice to their business to help them refine their business model, and can work with current and new brokers to meet their specific needs.
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