The mortgage industry has long debated whether working with a broker actually saves money or just adds a layer of complexity. In August 2024, Polygon Research released a study that answered the question directly — with data from over a million real loan transactions.
Where the data comes from
The study was conducted by Polygon Research with analytical support from Willow Canyon Advisors, using 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) records. HMDA is federal loan data that lenders are required to report to the government — it's the same dataset the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and consumer advocacy groups use to evaluate lending fairness and access nationwide. It's not survey data. It's not a sample. It's actual loan-level transaction records across millions of mortgages.
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) supported the study's publication. UWM is a wholesale lender, meaning it originates loans exclusively through independent mortgage brokers — so they have an obvious interest in the results. That said, the underlying dataset — HMDA — is public federal data, and the methodology is auditable. The findings are consistent with how wholesale pricing is structured.
The headline number: $10,662
Borrowers who used an independent mortgage broker to purchase a home saved an average of $10,662 over the life of their loan compared to borrowers who went through a nonbank retail lender.
The rate difference was modest but the fee gap was significant. Broker channel borrowers got an average purchase rate of 6.58% and paid 115 basis points upfront. Retail lender borrowers got a rate of 6.60% and paid 148 basis points upfront. On a $500,000 loan, that fee difference alone is $5,750 vs. $7,400 — $1,650 back in your pocket before you make a single mortgage payment.
Both the rate and the fees compound over time. That's where the $10,662 comes from.
for broker borrowers
$500,000 purchase loan
VA loan borrowers
Veterans save even more
The study broke out results by loan type, and the VA loan findings were striking. Veterans who used a mortgage broker to access a VA loan saved an average of $13,432 per loan compared to veterans who went through a retail lender.
Broker VA rates averaged 6.26% versus 6.40% at retail. Upfront costs were 87 basis points through a broker versus 106 basis points through retail channels. For service members and veterans, the broker advantage was more pronounced at every data point the study measured.
If you're a veteran financing a home and you haven't compared broker pricing against your bank or lender, the data suggests you may be leaving more than $13,000 on the table.
Approval rates and access
The study also examined loan approval rates in majority-minority census tracts — areas where access to mortgage credit has historically been a challenge. The broker channel approved borrowers in those tracts at a rate of 70%, compared to 58% through retail lenders. The broker channel also originated over 1.4 million mortgages in majority-minority census tracts during the study period.
The approval gap matters beyond just fairness. It reflects something structural: brokers have more lenders to work with. When one says no, there are others. A retail lender says no once and the file is closed. A broker can keep working it.
Why the numbers look like this
The savings aren't arbitrary — they reflect how the wholesale lending channel is built. Wholesale lenders like UWM don't advertise to consumers, don't run retail branches, and don't build out consumer-facing sales teams. They price their products for brokers to originate on their behalf. The reduced overhead gets passed through as pricing. When brokers then shop multiple wholesale lenders simultaneously, the competition among lenders drives prices further.
UWM itself is the single largest mortgage lender in the United States by volume — the company funded $139.7 billion in home loans in 2024. You cannot apply with them directly. There is no branch to walk into. The only way to access their rates is through a licensed independent mortgage broker. That's the design of the wholesale channel, and it's why the pricing differential in the HMDA data exists.
Broker market share reached 24.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023 — the highest level since 2009. More borrowers are learning how the channel works.
What this means if you're buying or refinancing
No study can guarantee what any individual borrower will save. Rates shift daily, loan amounts vary, and credit profiles affect pricing. The $10,662 figure is an average across a large pool of 2023 purchase transactions — your number could be higher or lower.
What the data establishes is that the broker channel is systematically priced better than retail for the same loan product. Whether the difference in your specific case is $3,000 or $15,000 depends on your loan. The only way to know is to get both quotes and compare them directly.
That's exactly what a free second opinion is for. If you already have a rate from your bank or another lender, bring it. I'll run it against 45 wholesale lenders and tell you honestly what the broker channel can offer — and whether it's better.
This article summarizes findings from a third-party study and is provided for general education only. It is not a commitment to lend or an offer of credit. Individual savings will vary based on loan amount, rate environment, credit profile, program type, and lender. All loans subject to underwriting and final approval. Source: Polygon Research (2024), analysis of 2023 HMDA records with support from United Wholesale Mortgage and Willow Canyon Advisors. Garrett Potz, NMLS #631592 · Affinity Home Lending, Company NMLS #1181151 · Equal Housing Lender.