As highlighted in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, more people are still paying off mortgages into their late 50s and beyond as higher house prices fuel bigger loans.
According to an analysis of Bureau of Statistics data, the SMH found that the proportion of people over 55 who own their home outright has fallen from 74 per cent in 2000, to 67 per cent in 2009. The slump in outright home ownership among over-55s reflects a wider decline across all age groups, but is slightly more pronounced.
This will have implications for the coming generations of retirees, who will either have to work longer to pay down these debts, or use reverse mortgage and equity release products to refinance the remainder of their home loans prior to full retirement. Recent SEQUAL data on reverse mortgages indicates that this already happening, with the percentage of new reverse mortgages being used to refinance existing home loans on the increase.
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HEY I think this was definitely worth reading. I clicked in from twitter if you’ve heard of it, you got a mention on my wall earlier so I think you have some FANS buddy! Good job!
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