The burden of mortgage debt is leading to mental distress and worsening mental health outcomes for older Australians, who are now often carrying unsustainable mortgage repayments into retirement, a new study has found. Average mortgage debt among older Australians has blown out by 600 per cent since the late 1980s after accounting for inflation, the study says, and nearly half of all homeowners aged 55 to 64 are still paying off a mortgage, up from just 14 per cent 30 years ago.
"These statistics are quite shocking," said Rachel Ong ViforJ, professor of economics at Curtin University and lead author of the study for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
"More and more older Australians are finding it increasingly difficult to pay off their mortgage debt before they retire.
"Our research shows that if you are carrying a mortgage debt and having difficulty repaying it in later life, then your mental health is likely to be poorer than someone who does not have this issue."
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