Premier Gladys Berejiklian says housing affordability biggest issue in NSW

MORE homebuyers are missing loan repayments, with mortgage defaults soaring a whopping 25 per cent across Australia in a year.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says housing affordability is a problem. Picture: Kym Smith

MORE homebuyers are missing loan repayments, with mortgage defaults soaring a whopping 25 per cent across Australia in a year.

Debt-ridden families are struggling to pay off monster mortgages as cost-cutting bosses slash their work hours and overtime.

And global credit ratings giant Standard & Poor’s (S & P) is warning that even more Aussies will fall behind in their mortgage payments this year.

Home loan “delinquencies” rose by one-quarter in the 12 months to November, with one in every 87 mortgages at least one month in arrears, S & P ­revealed yesterday.

The number of homeowners more than three months behind in payments jumped 41 per cent.

S & P warned the levels of people in arrears would get worse this year, with analyst Erin Kitson saying underemployment was partly to blame.

“Arrears are higher than they were a year ago, even though interest rates are relatively low and unemployment is relatively stable,’’ she said.

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“But there is increasing ­underemployment — if you had to reduce your hours or move from fulltime to part-time work, this could create a degree of mortgage stress.’’

Soaring home prices also drove affordability down 7.3 per cent in Sydney — Australia’s most expensive city — in the past three months, says the Housing Industry Association.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says housing affordability is the “biggest issue’’ for NSW residents.