THE 2008 MORTGAGE TRENDS REPORT

The Genworth Financial Mortgage Trends Report sheds light on developments in the Australian mortgage and property markets, based on a survey of over 2,000 adults. The report presents the findings of the fourth annual survey and provides insights into the changing attitudes of Australians.

Further highlights from the report include:

• There is a significant shift in consumer attitudes towards owning property, managing debt and coping with declining housing affordability. Although the desire to own property is as strong as ever, property ownership itself is actually declining, as is the proportion of mortgage-free property owners.
• It is evident that higher living costs, increasing inflation and interest rate rises are all impacting Australian household budgets.
• The growing indebtedness of Australians is increasingly a cause for concern. One in four respondents to the 2008 Genworth survey stated that they assign more than half of their disposable income to service their debt. This is a sharp increase from 2007 with 12% of respondents stating the same thing.