Almost one million Aussie homes face mortgage ‘time bomb’

Finding it harder than ever to make your mortgage repayments?

If your answer is YES then the good news (if you can say that) is you can take comfort in numbers because you’re certainly not alone on that front.

Whilst interest rates might remain at record low figures and Australia’s jobless rate continues to fall, mortgage stress continues to escalate right across the country.

Website nine.com.au revealed this past week that close to one million middle-income Aussie households are facing what they coined a mortgage "time bomb”.

And the ticking is getting louder by the day.

It seems that stubbornly low wage growth as well as soaring living costs have plunged families into enormous repayment stress.   

Referring to new analysis released by Digital Finance Analytics (DFA)^#, the article indicated that the number of homeowners currently enduring mortgage hardship has increased by 20 percent in the last six months to a startling 910,000.

It added that if the current trend were to continue, well over one million homes will find themselves struggling to pay their home loans by the start of next year.

So how do you determine if you are suffering from mortgage stress?

Simply put – borrowers fall into the “mortgage stress” category when their net income does not efficiently cover the monthly amount of their home loan payments, a scenario, which in the current economic climate, can happen all too easily.

More and more households each day are succumbing to this pressure and face the harsh reality of foreclosing on their loan and losing their home.

And no postcode is immune!

DFA analysis indicates that Victoria had the highest numbers of households under mortgage stress at 250,259, followed by NSW with 238,703.

Queensland didn’t fair much better with 162,726 whilst Western Australia currently have 121,393 homeowners under financial strain.

What can you do to avoid mortgage stress?

It really is time for some belt tightening when it comes to your essentials. With health insurance premiums increasing and energy prices out of control, your cost of living expenses quickly add up and, ultimately, impact on your ability to repay your mortgage.

If you haven’t shopped around or switched providers in a long time, now would be a wise time to consider doing so because there are real savings to be hard out there.

In fact, FiftyUp Club members can now take up our special offer with People Power Loans.

Switch today and get up to $500 cashback* when you take out a home loan through People Power Loans^.

Click here now and see if you can unlock a saving.

^#Digital Financial Analytics: Mortgage Stress http://www.digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/tag/mortgage-stress/

Any advice contained in this article is general in nature, it does not take account of your individual circumstances or needs. If in doubt about your own circumstances and needs you should seek financial advice. 

^People Power Loans are provided through Finsure Finance and Insurance Pty Ltd. ABN 72 068 153 926 Australian Credit Licence Number 384704. By providing a means for members to contact Finsure Finance and Insurance directly FiftyUp Club is acting as an intermediary and not providing credit assistance or acting as a credit provider.