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Mortgage arrears rising but still low

Tuesday 5th of March 2024

This is up 16% year-on-year and hit 1.47% last month alone – the highest level before Covid, when mortgage arrears were at 1.49% in March 2020.

While mortgage arrears are rising, they are still at historically low levels. And potential homeowners are not willing to take on the huge debt of a few years ago, with new household lending down 8% year-on-year.

The latest mortgage lending data from the Reserve Bank shows there was $3.4 billion of mortgage lending in January, down 35.6% down from $5.3 billion lent in December. This is historically low. In January 2021 there was $6.4 billion of lending.

Centrix data shows the average mortgage loan for first home buyers was $540,000 in the fourth quarter of last year, falling 9% from a peak of $594,000 in the first quarter of 2022 during the Covid property market boom.

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