Nearly a third of people with home loans have moved into the high-risk zone for mortgage stress.
New research from Roy Morgan shows 31.8 percent of mortgage holders are now high risk, up 7.9 percent since January 2026.
This equates to 389,000 more people having a high-risk mortgage compared to a year ago.
The number of Australian mortgage holders considered “extremely” at risk has hit a record high of 1,262,000 (23 percent of mortgage holders).
This compares to the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.5 percent.
The overall at-risk figure is edging towards the record high of 35.6 percent of mortgage holders recorded in mid-2008 when official interest rates hit a 30 year high of 7.25 percent.
The Reserve Bank (RBA) has raised interest rates four times so far this year and is due to meet again next week.
Mortgage holders are considered at risk if their mortgage repayments are greater than a certain percentage of household income – depending on income and spending.
Mortgage holders are considered extremely at risk if even the “interest only” repayment is over a certain proportion of household income.
“The latest figures on mortgage stress show weakness in employment markets negatively impacting levels of household income,” Roy Morgan said in a statement.
“This impact is supported by the latest Roy Morgan unemployment estimates which show over 3 million Australian workers are either unemployed or under-employed – 19.4 percent of the workforce.”
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