Australian mortgage statistics 2026

Based on the 2021 Census, 35.0% of occupied private dwellings were owned with a mortgage, covering around 3.24 million households. Among owner-occupier households, roughly 53% still carried a mortgage. In 2019–20, the national median outstanding mortgage balance was $275,000, while weekly housing costs averaged $493, equal to about 16% of gross household income. By the March quarter of 2026, the average new owner-occupier loan stood at around $735,000.

In 1997–98, outright owners made up 39.5% of households and mortgage holders 30.9%. By 2019–20, outright ownership had fallen to 29.5% while mortgage ownership had risen to 36.8%. The crossover occurred around 2003, as rising property prices contributed to longer repayment timelines. Private renting also increased over the same period, from 20% to 26.2%.

For owner-occupier loans, the national average was $735,000 in the March 2026 quarter (seasonally adjusted: $724,415), with NSW the highest at $860,000 and Tasmania the lowest at $521,000. Investor loans averaged $709,000 nationally. These figures refer to new loans written during the quarter. The median balance on outstanding mortgages was $275,000 nationally in 2019–20, the most recent comprehensive survey available.

Nationally, investor loans averaged $709,000 in the March 2026 quarter, compared with $735,000 for owner-occupier loans. NSW is now the exception: investor loans there averaged $857,000, just $3,000 below the $860,000 owner-occupier average – the closest investor and owner-occupier loan sizes have ever been in any state on record. Elsewhere the gap remains wide, from around $30,000 in Queensland to over $100,000 in the Northern Territory. Investors also typically pay slightly higher rates: the APRA/RBA F6 series shows investor outstanding rates running 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points above comparable owner-occupier rates.

In 2025, there were 556,092 new loan commitments for owner-occupier and investor dwellings combined, excluding refinancing. Of these, 119,464 were first-home buyer loans. By value, total commitments reached $385 billion. The December 2025 quarter alone recorded 149,434 commitments worth $108.3 billion, a quarterly record – but the following quarter broke that streak: commitments fell to 139,794 worth $103.0 billion in the March 2026 quarter as RBA rate hikes in February and March took effect.

In 2025, 119,464 first-home buyers took out a new loan, excluding refinancing, borrowing a combined $67.9 billion. The pandemic year of 2021 was the modern peak, when 162,808 first-home buyers borrowed $73.3 billion, partly driven by HomeBuilder and the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme. First-home buyers made up about 25% of total new lending by value in 2020, but their share had settled at around 18% by 2025.

NSW had the highest average weekly housing cost in 2019–20 at $574 per week, as well as the highest income share at 17%. The ACT had the highest median outstanding mortgage debt at $347,000, while the NT had the highest share of households with a mortgage at 43%. Tasmania was lowest on all three measures, with weekly costs of $346 and median debt of $177,000.

The mortgage stress benchmark commonly used is 30% of gross household income spent on housing costs. In the 2019–20 data, state averages for mortgaged households ranged from 14% in SA and WA to 17% in NSW, all below the 30% threshold. However, averages can hide differences within each state, and lower-income households with median or above-median mortgage costs are more likely to exceed the benchmark.