Queensland mortgages lag
Queensland home owners are falling behind in their mortgage payments at one of the fastest rates in the country, with the Gold Coast and Brisbane CBD among the worst spots.
Queensland home owners are falling behind in their mortgage payments at one of the fastest rates in the country, with the Gold Coast and Brisbane CBD among the worst spots, according to a new mortgage delinquency report.
Three of the 12 regions with the highest number of borrowers in arrears are from Queensland – Logan City, Gold Coast east and the Caboolture area.
The FitchRatings report, Australian Mortgage Delinquency by Postcode, shows Surfers Paradise is the third worst performing postcode by value, with 4.3 per cent of mortgage balances in arrears as at September 30.
Crestmead/Marsden in Logan ranks 15th, Helensvale on the Gold Coast 19th, and Brisbane CBD “unexpectedly” rounded out the top 20.
The report analysed 220,000 Queensland mortgages valued a total of $39 billion – the second highest state total mortgage balance.
The state experienced a “remarkable deterioration” in performance during the year to September, with 30-plus day arrears increasing from 1.12 per cent to 1.54 per cent, the report says. Queensland now has the second highest level of mortgage balances in arrears, behind Western Australia, but is equal to the national average.
The high level of unemployment in Queensland earlier this year, combined with increasing interest rates and decreasing house prices in Brisbane, had “seriously impacted” on borrowers’ ability to pay off their home.
However, improved unemployment rates (from 6.6 per cent in February to 5 per cent in September), meant future affordability concerns would depend on any further interest rate hikes.
The standout poor performing areas are Logan City, where one in 70 home loans is in arrears, and the Gold Coast, where one in 75 borrowers are more than 30 days behind.
Delinquency rates have skyrocketed in Inner Brisbane, mainly related to “a few loans” falling behind by one or two months.
A few “jumbo” loans on expensive properties had “skewed upwards” the delinquency rate.
“In fact, inner Brisbane is among the best performing regions in terms of number of borrowers in arrears,” the report says.
“Future performance might therefore normalise, aligning itself with the rest of the inner part of the city.
“However, Fitch still believes that coastal regions like the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast East are subject to a higher level of volatility than the rest of Queensland.”
