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The Fox Symes Debt Solutions survey, conducted by Galaxy Research in August, found that nearly half of the 1,014 home owners surveyed were concerned about paying off their mortgages.
The survey revealed that one in five were worried that they will never be able to pay off their mortgage entirely, 20 per cent were worried about how they would cope with their mortgage and debts when interest rates rise, and 18 per cent thought their home loan repayments were too high.
The survey said: “Australia’s skyrocketing housing costs are causing wide-spread grief with almost half of all Australians with home loans currently worried about meeting their home loan repayments.”
Fox Symes executive director Deborah Southon commented: “At the moment interest rates are low, however people’s mortgages and costs are still high.
“Any future rise in interest rates will really squeeze a lot of Australians’ finance even further. When the Reserve Bank decides to increase its cash rate by 0.25 per cent then many home lenders will typically raise their mortgage rates accordingly,” Ms Southon said.
“This means home owners will suddenly have to find hundreds of extra dollars every year to pay for rising mortgage rates.”
According to Ms Southon, the issue of housing affordability in Australia is putting a “massive strain” on a large number of Australians.
“Now more than ever people can really keep their head above water by budgeting accordingly and looking for any way possible to cut back on expenses,” she said.
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