The states with the biggest mortgages revealed

A new report uncovers which states in Australia have the highest outstanding mortgages

The states with the biggest mortgages revealed
Although it’s no surprise that Sydney has been identified as the place with the biggest mortgages in the country, Perth was not far behind, according to new research from Roy Morgan Research. 

Australians have a total of 1 trillion dollars in mortgage debt, which would equate to a median outstanding mortgage of $228,800 for every owner occupier mortgage holder.  

The  report’s state by state breakdown of the largest mortgages nationwide showed Sydney’s median home loan outstanding balance was $293K (up 9.4% in a year) and Perth’s was $279K (up 2.4%).

Melbourne was third highest with $243K (up 1.6%), followed by Brisbane $229K (down 1.1%), Hobart $207K (up 5.2%) and lastly Adelaide $195K (up 0.6%). 

Roy Morgan Research industry communications director, Norman Morris, says, "It’s not surprising that the median home loan outstanding in Sydney is the highest in Australia and it also has the highest growth rate over the last 12 months. 

“Sydney incomes are higher than the rest of Australia and continue to increase.”

The regional areas across all states had lower average outstanding amounts than their capitals, with the highest in QLD Country ($224K), followed by WA Country ($202K), NSW Country ($180k), VIC Country ($149K), SA Country ($123K) and TAS Country ($120K).

Mortgage stress 

Further findings from ME’s 12th biannual Household Financial Comfort Report found that a significant number of households feel financially distressed due to their mortgage and rental repayments.

Almost 40% of households with mortgage debt or renting were worried about being able to meet the loan repayments or rent. 

“Currently 40% of these households are estimated to be paying over 30% of their pre-tax income to a mortgage or rent – a common point to indicate stress. In the past year, 5% of mortgage holders could not always pay their repayments, and 7% of renters could not pay their rent.”

Those households expecting to struggle to meet their minimum debt repayments in the next 6-12months has risen, from 5% to 9%.