Queensland has nation’s worst mortgage arrears
Credit rating agency Fitch has released a report that has shown one in 50 Queensland mortgages are in arrears.
Fitch does not attribute the state’s poor performance to the floods and cyclones that ravaged the state, pointing out that unaffected regions such as the Gold Coast and Logan City have been strong contributors.
“On the Gold Coast, the stagnation in the housing market has also contributed to the increase in arrears during the six months to March 2011,” said James Zanesi, associate director at Fitch.
The report also found that 1.23% of all borrowers had missed one or more mortgage payments in the last six months.
the report also found that 1.23% of all borrowers had missed one or more mortgage payments in the last six months.
Source: Australian Mortgage Delinquency by Postcode – 31 March 2011.
Breaking that down by state, Queensland tops the list with 2%, followed by
1.99% in Western Australia, 1.93% in New South Wales, 1.54% in South Australia, 1.34% in Victoria, 1.09% in the ACT, and a comparatively strong 1.04% in the Northern Territory. Data on Tasmania was not included in the report.
“Arrears in Western Australia and especially in metropolitan Perth have shown signs of stabilization compared to September 2010. The rebound in the mining industry and a slight improvement in employment over 2010 might have contributed to stable mortgage performance through the September 2010-March 2011 period, ” added Zanesi.
Fitch’s study compiles data from the local residential mortgage market (17% of all loans), which covers over one million loans worth a total of $186 billion. It also compiles data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Source: Australian Mortgage Delinquency by Postcode – 31 March 2011.
