Consumers are being put at a disadvantage because of a lack of price transparency in the mortgage market, according to the latest Australian Securities and Investments Commission review of the sector.In a report released yesterday, "Looking for a mortgage: consumer experiences and expectations in getting a home loan", ASIC says consumers need greater price transparency and better information from brokers and lenders overall if they to make informed decisions."We believe that some consumers are likely taking out loans when cheaper alternatives exist," the report says.The regulator has also called on brokers to demonstrate that they are meeting consumer expectations and presenting them with the best value loan options.ASIC followed 300 consumers in the process of taking out a home loan and it surveyed 2000 consumers who either had recently taken out a home loan or were in the process of doing so.Consumers typically said they were looking for the "best" home loan, which usually refers to price and rate. When they went to a broker, this is what they expected the broker to deliver.In the survey, ASIC found that 60 per cent of consumers took out a home loan with a lender with which they had an existing relationship. The strongest factor influencing their decision was convenience.A consistent feeling among consumers was that they were disappointed that their lender did not offer a reward for loyalty. If consumers wanted a lower interest rate they had to ask for it and this was often with mixed results.Consumers who went to brokers tended to be first home buyers and people with less knowledge about the home loan market. Based on the survey, 58 per cent of consumers received just one or two loan options from their broker.It was not always clear that brokers had presented a loan recommendation or options in a way that enabled consumers to understand the objective criteria behind the recommendations of the specific loan or loans. The review identified some instances where consumers felt brokers may have been pushing a certain product that may not have been in their interest.Twenty-one per cent believed they could have got a better interest rate or were not sure whether they got a good rate.One in 10 consumers who had recently taken out a home loan and had started making repayments were either struggling to make their repayments or had missed a payment. ASIC said this appeared to be a relatively high proportion of consumers self-perceiving a level of financial pressure within 12 months of entering into a home loan.Consumers' understanding of how mortgage brokers were paid varied considerably. Most consumers appeared to be aware that a broker was paid by a lender through a commission payment. But it was not always clear that the consumers understood that a broker is likely to receive different commission payments based on the lender selected and that this presented a conflict of interest.ASIC's latest review follows a much more critical review of the mortgage broking sector in 2017 and an extensive section on mortgage broking