Twitter (X) user Oliver in WA posted the following stunning chart showing how Australians are heavily overweight in housing (4.5 times GDP) compared to other English-speaking nations.
The same can be said about Australians’ mortgage debts, which are among the highest in the world when measured against incomes or GDP.
The following chart from Justin Fabo at Antipodean Macro shows that average outstanding mortgage rates in Australia are among the highest in the world.
As a result, the share of income that Australian households spend on principal and interest debt repayments is also among the highest in the world.
Indeed, the surge in interest payments is one of the factors behind the record 8% fall in Australian real per capita household income.
The good news for mortgage holders is that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is tipped by financial markets to cut the official cash rate by 1.0% over the remainder of 2025.
As noted by Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro, a 1% reduction in interest rates would lower the average interest paid on household loans by around 1.5% of disposable income.
Be grateful for small mercies.
