18/10/2026
😒 📉 Mortgage stress hits 450,000 households as Melbourne leads the rise.
Mortgage stress is widely considered to be when an owner-occupier household that has higher monthly outgoings, including loan repayments, than what the household income is. Most of these households are still meeting repayments, but only just by cutting spending, drawing on savings, or relying on credit.
🔹 Household Mortgage stress climbed by 31,318 in the September quarter to 450,539, an increase of about 7.5% in three months.
🔹 Reports single out recent first-home buyers who entered the market with small deposits, including users of the government’s 5% deposit scheme, as among the most vulnerable.
🔹 Victoria’s top 10 postcodes added 10,501 households under strain, an 11.2% increase, taking the total to 104,325, the highest of any market. The growth was led by Derrimut and Tarneit in Melbourne’s west.
🔹 Melbourne is now the centre of the story with more stressed households than any other market, and the biggest rise. But the sharpest moves are in the regions such as Cairns, Toowoomba and Launceston.
We find real solutions for our clients so if you or anyone else you know is feeling a Home loan repayment squeeze at the moment, please feel free to contact us today for a no obligation chat to see if we can assist you in reviewing your interest rate, product fees, repayment type and cashflow strategy.