Consulting Economist for ME Bank, Jeff Oughton and Shane Garrett, senior economist at HIA discusses mortgage stress as ME Bank releases its 14th Household Financial Comfort Report today.
First-home buyers at highest share of market in five years
Continued weakness in housing finance numbers is leading the banks to compete for market share by lowering interest rates for both investors and owner-occupiers, says Malcolm Gunning, president of the REIA.
Demand for fixed rate home loans has fallen for the sixth month, with Mortgage Choice data showing fixed rate loans accounted for 21.75 per cent of all loans written in February, down from more than 28 per cent in September 2017.
More than half of households are contributing more than 30 per cent of their disposable household income - a common benchmark for financial stress - towards rent or paying off their mortgage.