Risk of mortgage stress drops to lowest since February 2023 following RBA interest rate cut in August to 3.6%

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Nov-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 25.3% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to October 2025, down 2.6% points from August. This is the lowest share of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ since February 2023, when the share ‘At Risk’ first rose above one-in-four mortgage holders (where it has stayed ever since). The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 518,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of Australians considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 903,000 (17.3% of mortgage holders), which is 1% point above the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.3%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Australian Youth Barometer 2025: Financial pressures intensify for young Australians as confidence in the future weakens

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Nov-25

Roy Morgan has conducted the fieldwork for Monash University’s Australian Youth Barometer on behalf of the Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice since 2021, with insights from this research currently part of the national conversation around issues facing young people. For the 2025 study, Roy Morgan interviewed 527 Australians aged 18-24 via an online survey using our probability panel. Insights from the 2025 Youth Barometer highlight concerns centring around financial insecurity, mental health challenges, and heavy reliance on family support amid perceived government inadequacy.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MONASH UNIVERSITY

Majority of mortgage holders who live alone or as single parents experience mortgage stress

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Oct-25

Roy Morgan’s Single Source research shows that 52.3% of owner-occupier mortgage holders who live alone or are single parents are ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress, while 36.0% are ‘Extremely at Risk’. Many more women than men are impacted; an estimated 205,000 ‘single female’ mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress in the 12 months to June 2025 compared with 108,000 ‘single male’ mortgage holders. More single women were also ‘Extremely at Risk’ of mortgage stress (137,000), compared with 74,000 single male mortgage holders. The substantially higher number of single female mortgage holders at risk of mortgage stress is not only due to single women being more likely to be at risk of mortgage stress, but also due to there being more single women than single men among mortgage holders; nearly twice as many mortgage holders are single women (6.8%) as single men (4.1%). While single women are more likely to be at ‘Extreme Risk’ of mortgage stress than ‘single men’, the gap is greatest among those aged under 34, where the income gap between men and women is greater.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Risk of mortgage stress drops to lowest since February 2023 after RBA cuts interest rates to 3.6% in August

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Oct-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 25.9% of mortgage holders (1,361,000) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to September 2025, down 2% points from August. This is the lowest share of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ since February 2023 when the share first rose above 25% of mortgage holders (where it has stayed ever since). The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 554,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of Australians considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 858,000 (16.3% of mortgage holders) which is in line with the long-term average over the last two decades (also 16.3%). These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Risk of mortgage stress remains high despite interest rate cut in mid-August

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Oct-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 27.9% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to August 2025, down only 0.5% points from June. The share of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ has been above 25% since February 2023, despite three interest rate cuts so far this year. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 616,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of Australians considered ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 915,000 (17.9% of mortgage holders), which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.8%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Extreme mortgage stress eases nationally year-on-year, but surges in lowest socio-economic quintiles

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Aug-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that an estimated 27.8% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the year to June 2025, down from 30.3% in the previous 12 months. The proportion of Australians who are estimated to be ‘Extremely at Risk’ of mortgage stress has in turn fallen to 18.5%, down from 19.7 per cent in the year to June 2024. However, the decline in the proportion of mortgage holders at ‘Extreme Risk’ of mortgage stress was only evident among those in the top three socio-economic quintiles. Among those in the lowest two quintiles, the proportion of mortgage holders ‘at extreme risk’ of mortgage stress increased – by 5% among those in the E Quintile, and by 5.2% among those in the FG quintile. Meanwhile, mortgage holders with annual household incomes of under $100,000 are more likely to be ‘Extremely at Risk’ of mortgage stress. Only mortgage holders in households with annual incomes of $100,000 or more have seen a decline in mortgage stress. These latest findings come from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth interviews with over 60,000 Australians each year.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Risk of mortgage stress up in June as Australians take out bigger mortgages after interest rate cuts

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jul-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,491,000 mortgage holders (28.4%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to June 2025, up 1.5% points from a month earlier. This is the highest rate of mortgage stress since January 2025, before either of the Reserve Bank’s interest rate cuts. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 684,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now now numbered at 1,032,000 (19.7% of mortgage holders) which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.8%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with more than 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Risk of mortgage stress unchanged in April, but set to fall in May after the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-May-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,429,000 mortgage holders (26.5%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in April 2025, unchanged from a month earlier. These figures relate to the period before last week’s interest rate cut, which is projected to reduce mortgage stress by 13,000 in May to 1,416,000 (26.3%). The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 622,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 955,000 (18.0% of mortgage holders), which is clearly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.7%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with more than 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Risk of mortgage stress dropped for a second straight month in March after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Apr-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,451,000 mortgage holders (26.5%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in March 2025. The share of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in March is the lowest since June 2023, when official interest rates were also at the current level of 4.1% before a final increase later that year to a 12-year high of 4.35%. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 644,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began its cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 990,000 (18.5% of mortgage holders), which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.7%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with more than 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Risk of mortgage stress dropped in February, after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates for the first time since 2020

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Mar-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,549,000 mortgage holders (27.7%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in February 2025. The share of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ is the lowest since November 2024. After the introduction of the Stage 3 tax cuts in July 2024 the share of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ fell for four straight months until October, but it then began to increase for the next three months until the Reserve Bank’s interest rate cut in mid-February. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 742,000 since May 2022 when the RBA began the cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 1,066,000 (19.6% of mortgage holders), which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.7%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with more than 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA