Reserve Bank: New figures show huge jump in WA homeowners falling behind on repayments

The share of WA homeowners falling months behind on mortgage repayments has jumped almost 50 per cent in 12 months, according to official data that underscores just how severely the Reserve Bank’s 13 rate hikes have hurt households. New RBA figures obtained by WA Liberal senator Dean Smith also reveal suburbs in and around Gosnells in Perth’s south-east are suffering some of the highest rates of mortgage pain in the country. Almost one in six homeowners in the area are saddled with a high mortgage burden — defined as households that are spending more than 30 per cent of their income on repayments and are in the lowest income quartile. The figures come amid an ongoing political row over inflation and interest rates that erupted after Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the central bank was “smashing the economy”. Dr Chalmers stood by those comments again on Sunday, saying the “factual point” was borne out by the sluggish economic growth figures released last week. However, he would not endorse his old boss Wayne Swan’s withering attack on the RBA, in which the former treasurer accused the bank of “punching itself in the face” and putting economic dogma ahead of rational economic decision-making. “I don’t second guess the Reserve Bank in the way that Wayne has,” Dr Chalmers said. Dr Chalmers insisted the Government and RBA’s interests were “aligned” as he backed the bank’s goal of returning inflation to the 2-3 per cent target range. Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said Dr Chalmers was a “desperate treasurer” who was trying to shift blame for high inflation. “He’s fighting everybody except for his homegrown inflation,” he said. The blame game will do nothing to ease the pressure on the increasing number of households struggling to make repayments on time. The RBA data obtained by Senator Smith shows the share of WA borrowers that are 90 days behind on their repayments — a tell-tale sign of mortgage pain — has risen almost 45 per cent in 12 months, from 0.43 per cent to 0.62 per cent. That is the highest rate of any jurisdiction outside of Victoria. The shadow assistant minister for treasury also obtained data on the regions with the highest share of borrowers with a “high mortgage burden”. Some 15 per cent of borrowers are in that category in the Gosnells area, which includes Thornlie, Huntingdale, Maddington, Kenwick, Southern River and parts of Canning Vale. It’s the seventh worst “high mortgage burden” region in the country. Senator Smith said blame for the mortgage pain sat squarely with the Federal Government. “What these new RBA numbers reveal is that many Australians are now unable to meet their monthly mortgage repayments and that is because Albanese Government cannot control its homegrown inflation, leaving the RBA to do the heavy lifting with rates rises,” Senator Smith said. WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti on Sunday joined growing calls for the RBA to cut interest rates, which sits at 4.35 per cent.