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The Broker Pulse: Commercial Lending report, conducted by Agile Market Intelligence in partnership with the Commercial & Asset Finance Brokers Association (CAFBA), has revealed that brokers expect demand for business loans, commercial mortgages and equipment or asset finance to either rise or hold steady through the final quarter of 2025.
Broker Pulse is a monthly survey of residential and commercial mortgage lenders conducted by Agile Market Intelligence. It is a community-driven knowledge base of lender performance that offers transparency to the market by surfacing these collective insights from the broker community. This empowers brokers to make informed decisions and enables lenders to benchmark and improve performance.
The latest report was based on a sample of 124 active commercial brokers (surveyed between 1 and 25 November) to calculate an index of market demand. The survey asked commercial brokers about the outlook for their clients’ business needs, commercial loan types, and the demand forecasts for different industries.
Appetite for multiple financing types
According to the Broker Pulse findings, the outlook for financing requirements over the next three months remains steady, despite growing sentiment that there would be no foreseeable reduction in interest rates.
Measured by subtracting the share of brokers forecasting a decline in demand from those expecting an increase, the market demand index for business loans lifted to +49 in October, a clear positive trend. Meanwhile, commercial finance and equipment finance both sit at +35, with most brokers predicting demand to stay the same.
“Despite minor fluctuations in data in the last six months, we are seeing stabilising commercial lending demand across all loan types,” said Michael Johnson, director at Agile Market Intelligence.
Business health
Brokers remain broadly positive about their clients’ business health heading into Q4, but the underlying indicators are weakening.
Net sentiment scores were calculated by tallying the brokers predicting an improvement in business conditions minus those expecting a decline.
Brokers remained broadly optimistic about their clients’ business conditions, although several indicators were trending downward at the start of Q4. Net sentiment for customer cash flow has slipped nine points since July, to +6, while revenue outlook has declined to +21 and employee headcount has fallen to +3.
However, financing requirements continue to move in the opposite direction. Net sentiment for financing needs rose five points, reaching +46 – the strongest signal across all business health metrics.
Johnson said: “Financing requirements continue to be the strongest signal in the data. Businesses are leaning more on credit to navigate operating pressures.”
You can find out more about the Broker Pulse surveys at www.brokerpulse.com.au.
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