A three-bedroom house at 365 Fitzroy St, Fitzroy, in Melbourne has been listed for sale as a mortgagee auction with an $875,000-$960,000 sales price indicated.
Melbourne has been labelled an emerging “mortgage delinquency hot spot” by one of the nation’s most respected financial analyst groups.
Moody’s Ratings late yesterday released a report indicating the city is now home to many of the suburbs with the highest numbers of homeowners behind on paying their home loan.
Numbers are rising nationwide, with more families struggling to keep their roof over their head in every state and territory than a year ago.
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Falling behind on a home loan is the first step towards a property being forced into a mortgagee sale, though lenders will work with most owners to find ways to keep this from happening.
Darwin had the nation’s worst delinquency rate as a capital city at 3.69 per cent, followed by Adelaide at 2.76 per cent, Hobart at 2.68 per cent and Melbourne at 2.54 per cent.
Sydney recorded 1.74 per cent of home loans in arrears, but Brisbane had the lowest of the major capitals at 1.51 per cent.
The figures track mortgage delinquencies, or those that are at least 30 days behind on repayments, up until May.
Moody’s analysis shows most of the suburbs struggling the most with mortgage repayments are in Melbourne.
But Moody’s analyst Letitia Wong said with 14 of the nation’s 20 worst suburbs for homeowners paying their home loan in Melbourne, the Victorian capital was an emerging “mortgage delinquency hot spot”.
“As mortgage delinquency rates mount around the country, Melbourne is emerging as a particular weak spot, a situation that will likely continue into next year,” Ms Wong said.
All of the top four are in Melbourne, headed by the CBD, Pakenham, Calder Park and Kurunjang.
An apartment at 135 Eastern Rd, South Melbourne, is listed for sale as a mortgagee property.
Gosnells in Perth was fifth on the list and Casula in Sydney’s south west was the first area in the list outside of WA or Victoria.
Ms Wong added that the figures came as Melbourne’s unemployment rate had risen above the national average and the city’s income growth was also lagging.
Ms Wong’s report noted that the city’s house prices were also falling after increases in taxes on investment property owners and a surge in the number of homes for sale compared to other capitals.
“The combination of above-average unemployment, below-average income growth and softer housing market conditions than other major cities means Melbourne is likely to remain a weak spot for mortgage delinquencies over the next year,” she said.
The nation’s top performing areas for the lowest mortgage delinquencies are mostly in Queensland and NSW.
Many of the nation’s best performing suburbs are in NSW and Queensland.
Holland Park in Brisbane and Clovelly in Sydney top the list with 0.0 per cent of homeowners behind on their mortgage.
Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast, Rochedale in the Logan area and Ainslie in Canberra rounded out the nation’s five best areas for low delinquency rates.
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