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More than half of first homeowners who purchased within the last two years are considered to be in mortgage stress, according to Mortgage Choice’s latest First Homeowners survey.
The report shows 53% of respondents are contributing more than 30% of their after tax income to their mortgage and reveales that first homeowners in South Australia are struggling the most, with 60% considered to be in mortgage stress. This is compared to 54% in Western Australia, 52% in both Victoria and Queensland and 50% in New South Wales.
Mortgage Choice spokesperson, Jessica Darnbrough, says that while these are worrying statistics, the survey also shows the majority of Australians continue to make additional mortgage repayments.
Almost two-thirds of the surveyed respondents (62%) say they made additional mortgage repayments whenever possible, with 37% putting as much as they could afford towards their mortgage each month.
In addition, over half (53%) of the respondents said they had not changed their repayment strategy, despite the fact that many lenders have trimmed their interest rates in line with the RBA.
“While it is tempting for first homeowners to reduce their mortgage repayments in line with any recent interest rate cuts delivered by their lender, it is comforting to see that mortgage holders have such a responsible attitude when it comes to their home loan,” says Darnbrough.
