Commercial mortgage brokers are ‘overwhelmingly upbeat’ about their prospects for 2018, according to Shawbrook Bank.

The bank’s annual Broker Barometer found that 78% of brokers feel confident about the lending environment in the forthcoming year, up from 72% in 2017.

On top of this, 27% of respondents to Shawbrook’s survey said they had seen business volume growth of 30%+ in the second half of last year.

Almost 70% of respondents also stated that they feel confident about business growth this year. 

The top three challenges for the coming year cited by commercial brokers are lending restrictions, regulatory change and valuation issues.

“Despite some of the uncertainties surrounding the PRA changes and the possible impact of Brexit, it is encouraging to see so much positivity in the commercial mortgage broker market when looking at the year ahead,” says Karen Bennett, managing director of Shawbrook Bank’s commercial mortgages division.

“It’s also fantastic to see so many brokers reporting such encouraging results in business volumes, demonstrating the robustness of the commercial mortgage market.”