The majority of Australian mortgage holders are trying to pay off their home loans a lot faster, according to the results of the latest survey from
finder.com.au.
The research, which polled 2,005 Australians, found that 89% of borrowers have attempted to pay down their mortgages sooner.
Sixty per cent of those surveyed opted made extra repayments while 40% said they made more frequent payments each week or fortnight instead of each month.
Finally, 34% of those polled said they used a linked offset account to speed up their mortgage repayments.
Breaking this down by gender, 90% of women and 88% of men had tried to pay down their mortgages quicker. Across the generations, 82% of Baby Boomers opted to fast-track their repayments, compared to 91% of Generation X.
These figures were sparked by the burden most borrowers felt of carrying around this debt for thirty years or so, said Bessie Hassan, money expert at
finder.com.au.
“Some borrowers feel burdened by the thought that they could be paying off their mortgage in twenty or thirty years’ time if they only pay back the minimum each month – so they're actively looking for ways to lower their balances.”
Only 5% of mortgage holders opted for faster repayments by negotiating a lower rate with their existing lender. Likewise, 5% had refinanced to a new lender which offered lower rates or other money-saving features.
“This could lead to huge potential savings for borrowers looking to lower costs and sink savings back into the mortgage to increase equity,” Hassan said.
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