Australian Property News

More borrowers believe now is time to buy

Posted on Thursday, July 23 2009 at 8:56 PM

Australians are feeling increasingly confident to service their mortgage debt thanks to falling interest rates, according to the Genworth Financial 2009 Mortgage Trends Report.

With gradually rising unemployment, Genworth CEO Martin Barter was surprised by the positive results in a survey across April and May this year, showing that 17 per cent of borrowers were struggling to meet their mortgages, down from the 23 per cent figure in 2008.

"We are seeing the impact of increases in unemployment and falling household incomes resulting from underemployment in our arrears figures," Barter said.

"While this increase is up from a relatively low base, the trend shows that small increases in unemployment can quickly translate into repayment difficulties for homeowners. So it's interesting to see a falling number of struggling borrowers in this year's report."

The report also revealed that as more Australians comfortably meet their mortgage repayments due to lower interest rates, 43 per cent believe that now is a good time to buy property, compared to just 33 per cent in 2008.