Majority of mortgage holders comfortable with home loan: ING DIRECT

A total of 68% of Australians are ‘very comfortable’ with their home loan, according to the latest ING DIRECT Household Financial Wellbeing Index.

Comfort with mortgages/long term debt, credit cards/short-term debt and household bills is currently at an all-time high.

The index found that 31% of households are mortgage free, while 44% are paying down their loan ahead of time.

A high level of comfort with short-term debt, such as credit cards, was noted with 5.48 out of 7 on the index recorded, or the highest level since 2010.

Of the households surveyed, 18% have a personal loan, with the average household owning 1.8 credit cards and 15% of households not having a credit card.

New South Wales was the most comfortable of all the states, followed by Western Australia and Victoria. All three were up on their second quarter 2014 results. South Australia and Queensland have dipped since the second quarter.

Head of third party distribution at ING DIRECT, Mark Woolnough, said that it’s good news that financial wellbeing is rising.

“Almost half of all homeowners are making the most of the current low interest rate environment and are getting ahead with their home loan repayments, which is a good strategy that will help them to maintain their financial health well into the New Year,” said Woolnough.