Who really has it worst in housing squeeze

South Australia is in the grip of a housing crisis – the staggering extent of which has been laid terrifyingly bare in a new report

More than half of South Australians currently paying off a home are in mortgage stress, while two in three renters are currently spending more than they should on weekly payments for someone else’s home.

A new report from Digital Finance Analytics reveals of the 273,302 South Australian households currently paying off a mortgage, 143,347 or 52.45 per cent are currently experiencing mortgage stress.

It’s worse for renters, with 140,475, or 67.87 per cent of the 206,977 households currently renting experiencing rental stress.

Investors are better off, with just 14.95 per cent, or 31,261, of the 209,104 households with an investment property currently stressed, while overall, 315,083 households or 43.64 per cent – almost half of those either paying off their mortgage or someone else’s – are experiencing financial stress.

The report’s assessments of mortgage stress were not based on a set percentage of income going to mortgage repayments, rather a look at the total look at total cash flow, Digital Finance Analytics principal Martin North said.

Digital Finance Analytics founder Martin North. Pic: Hollie Adams/The Australian

“If a household is paying out more each month including the mortgage repayments, compared with income received, they are in stress,” he said.

“If households have more outgoings – excluding one-off discretionary items – than income, we define them as stressed,” he said.

Mr North said strong migration was putting pressure on the situation, with the figures showing nearly 85 per cent of households with a multicultural background were in rental stress.

“A lot of those migrants who have come to the country are almost immediately living in financial stress,” he said.

“Migration is also putting significant pressure on rental costs, which is then spilling over into people trying to rent or buy a first home – it’s a real mess.

“We’ve got a crisis, and unfortunately, I don’t think politicians are reacting appropriately. “They should be dialling back migration and taking this much more seriously.

“It’s now a problem economically for the country.”

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The report categorises postcodes along a spectrum of household financial stress, with those in the mild category experiencing budget pressures, those in the middle missing payments, and those insolvent as in severe stress.

According to the report, just one postcode is in “severe stress” – 5065, which includes the suburbs of Dulwich, Glenside, Linden Park and Toorak Gardens.

Of the 4644 households in the postcode, 1316 are borrowing and another 1371 are renting.

Of these, 2482 are currently experiencing financial stress, with 472 identified as severely stressed, while 351 are experiencing mild mortgage stress.

Anglicare Kasy Chambers addressing the Nation Press Club in Canberran. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers said in Anglicare’s recent Rental Affordability snapshot that the system was stacked against Australian renters.

“Australians cannot continue to be expected to make ends meet in a system that gives them no

chance,” she said.

“Our research shows that the only way for Australians to find a rental property is to accept that severe rental stress will be their reality.

“Forcing this choice on Australians in unfair and unjust.

“The truth is we have not suddenly found ourselves in crisis, we have been sleepwalking towards this inevitability for years.

“Now is the time for governments across the country to act and ensure that every Australian has a place to call home.”