Borrowers are holding on to their home loans longer, according to broker Mortgage Choice, and this trend is having consequences for lenders and intermediaries.The average life of the A$42.4 billion of loans on Mortgage Choice's books has increased from 3.5 years in 2006 to a current average of five years.The runoff rate of the Mortgage Choice book has declined from 22.3 per cent in the 2007/08 financial year to 14.9 per cent in the year to June.This change has had an impact on the dynamics of the Mortgage Choice business and, possibly, the industry.Lower run off rates and reduced origination volumes mean reduced upfront commissions for brokers.But, on the positive side, this means more stable trail commission income. Brokerage businesses tend to be valued on a multiple of the trail. For the lenders, a longer loan life makes a loan more profitable. Lenders would be inclined to make more use of the broker channel if they saw it as a more profitable form of distribution. And brokers, faced with fewer mortgage settlements, would look to diversify their businesses.This is what Mortgage Choice is doing. Last month, the group launched a car loan (funded by Liberty). It has had a life insurance package for a couple of years but really started to ramp up sales this year. Mortgage Choice's chief executive, Michael Russell, said: "We are light on diversified income. We need to be doing more commercial lending. We are training our franchisees to do more investment lending. "We are looking at reverse mortgages. There is a need for that type of finance and now that the government has set some guidelines there is more certainty. "This year there will be a big focus on diversifying our sources of income."The company made a net profit of $27.5 million for the year to June - up 17 per cent on the previous corresponding period. Cash profit (after adjusting for the accounting treatment of trail commissions and share-based remuneration) was up 7.4 per cent to $15.9 million.The loan book increased by six per cent to $42.4 billion, but settlements were down 3.3 per cent to 8.7 billion. The 3.3 per cent fall compares with the 7.8 per cent fall for the industry recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics over the same period.Earnings per share rose 7.3 per cent and the dividend (fully franked) rose 8.3 per cent. Origination commission was $49.1 million - down six per cent from $52.1 million in 209/10. Trail commission was up one per cent to $83.7 million. The average upfront commission rate was 59 basis points and the average trail was around 20 basis points.The company made a combined loss of about $700,000 on its two recent acquisitions, the aggregator LoanKit and the comparison website Help Me Choose, but is expecting a flat or slightly improved performance in the current year.