In your own imagination, what do you consider the average mortgage?

[misty]

In Canberra, housing is at a serious shortage, an entry level (ie tiny 3bed single bath shoebox like I live in, on barely any land) will set you back 450k easy. It's still cheaper for me to keep my mortgage then it is to rent though, particularly as there is no way I would get a rental with the less then 1% vacancy rate Canberra has; not with two dogs, two cats and four kids.

We rent out our investment property to my sister (single mum 25yr with one kid) before that she had to get our mum to put her name on the lease, because no one would choose her.

[Trillian]

500-600k? Which seems astronomical to me. We could probably afford $250k Oh well.

I reckon that would be a fair average for people in the city. In the country though, I reckon 200k would be average. The amount of some mortgages blow my mind - we paid less than 500k for our working farm that will bring us an income on it's own let alone what we can earn ourselves, yet some people don't think twice about a 500k mortgage on a house that earns them nothing kwim? I just don'tknow how anyone can be realistically expected to pay off their mortgage in their lifetimes. What happens to it if you die and you haven't paid it off? DOes the bank get it, or does it get sold and if you're lucky you might get what's left over?

[meow]

I would guess $300-$400K as the average.

We are tossing up moving to Sydney and I had sworn off it due to house prices and the massive mortgage we would have to get. But my H can get much better work there, work he would really enjoy and it pays well too. So based on the salary he would earn it would possibly be worth our while, which is how house prices manage to be so high in Sydney I guess.

Is the 3 x your salary thing based on gross or net income?

[Cassius2]

hmmm from a melbourne perspective i would of thought 300-400k? it is astronomical.

like meow, we were thinking about sydney or melbourne, but at the time melbourne was more affordable so we had to go with that...

dont move meow lol!

[Beach Mama]

Wow I would have guessed closer to 500 for Melbs( city/suburbs)! Ours is relatively small, smaller than the average and twice our combined income but may increase when we sea change. Our first house was 100k- sold for 260, second was 370 sold for 560 and current purchased for 440( spent over 100 on renos) and should sit around 650. We live in the Eastern burbs. Amazing now to look back to that first place which was 12 years ago!!!

[Astrid]

I reckon that would be a fair average for people in the city. In the country though, I reckon 200k would be average. The amount of some mortgages blow my mind - we paid less than 500k for our working farm that will bring us an income on it's own let alone what we can earn ourselves, yet some people don't think twice about a 500k mortgage on a house that earns them nothing kwim? I just don'tknow how anyone can be realistically expected to pay off their mortgage in their lifetimes. What happens to it if you die and you haven't paid it off? DOes the bank get it, or does it get sold and if you're lucky you might get what's left over?

My financial planner knows too many people retiring with a mortgage and having to use their super to pay if off. His main advise to us was to get out mortgage paid off as quick as we can and in 10 years (well now 7) start putting extra into super. (anyway this reminds me of a thread topic I want to start)

[meow]

What happens to it if you die and you haven't paid it off? DOes the bank get it, or does it get sold and if you're lucky you might get what's left over?

Well, you'll be dead so you don't get anything The mortgage has to be paid off so whoever inherits the house can either pay it off or sell the house to cover the cost.

[Trillian]

Well, you'll be dead so you don't get anything The mortgage has to be paid off so whoever inherits the house can either pay it off or sell the house to cover the cost.

that is true. But I suppose anything left over would go to your estate.

[LuluHB]

Trill I think a scarier thought is what is going to happen to all those people that hit retirement with a hefty mortgage still. Their super may or may not be enough to pay it off, and even if it is they're left with absolutely nothing in reserve. How on earth do you keep up with a mortgage, rates, electricity etc while on a pension?

[~me~]

The average mortgage in Melbourne is around the $270,000 mark. On saying that, I know people massively over borrow and get themselves in holes. They also purchase new cars,holidays, renovations that are not necessary (these are new houses we live in our area) and just add it to the mortgage, it's crazy

My DH would have a heart attack if we borrowed that much and we would never pay for a holiday using our mortgage! We are pretty conservative.

[briggsy's girl]

i find it interesting to see what the average is. if we were to buy out here (about 160k's from Melbourne), we would likely have a hefty mortgage. next town over in any direction isn't bad, but here, it's higher because of the demand. there is a three bed next door to us that has just this week gone up for sale - similar age to what we're renting now. it's 309k. very basic place - nice, great neighbourhood (who wouldn't want to live next to us lol!) - and at the lower end of the mortgage market for a "decent" area. the "bronx" you can get a four bed for less than 200k. it really depends on where you choose to live, house size etc. we have one personal loan that we're paying off as fast as we can, and then we're probably going to put that money each week into savings so we can get a house of our own again. if we can't safely manage a mortgage on a place in an area that we like, i'd prefer to continue to rent than to settle on something we're unhappy with, just because it's what we can afford. i'd rather pay extra rent to be in a good part of town, than to pay the same on a mortgage in a cheaper area. maybe it's snobby of me - probably is - but it's simply the way i feel kwim?

i don't understand people that don't have mortgage insurance. i know it's expensive, but we've been on the receiving end of an "inheritance" that came with a mortgage with no insurance - and we had to do a heap of juggling to be able to keep it (and even then, it was so messy that we ended up selling up when DH lost his job cos it was just unmanagable). as i said, i know it's exxy, but it just seems to make sense to try and offer security for your family - especially if you're the only income earner...

[AnyDream]

Trill, you make sure the amount of your life insurance pays the ****er off.

[Trillian]

Yeah, we've got more than enough life insurance to cover ours with loads left over, but a lot of people don't have life insurance and it blows my mind that they don't. Or they just have funeral cover which is great to pay for your funeral, but doesn't cover a large mortgage.

[Floweryfields]

I don't have funeral cover or life insurance. But at the moment there is just me and a couple of dependent pets! I also own my home and have no other debt. I figure I am gone, no one gets any big bills - there's enough dough in the bank to bury me in a simple box. When I do get married and most definitely when I have children, that will change.

[Miss E]

I reckon in the Melbourne south and eastern inner city and inner suburbs (say within 12kms of the CBD) the average mortgage would be up around the $800K mark. When you consider that you can't get a house (even a small 2 bedder) in most of these suburbs for under $1 million I think there would also be a lot of people with a lot higher mortgages too. But, chances are they're earning the big bucks so can service those sort of mortgages.

[luna moth]

I reckon around where we live it's 400-500. Houses are worth much much more, but it's been a growth area. A lot of people bought 10+ years ago and their homes have gained a lot of value.

We fit the 3 x combined income model when I'm working, but because I'm not currently, it's more like 4.5 times. So things are tight, but we think it's worth it to have me home with the kiddlies.

I hate seeing people take on huge mortgages just because they can, then whingeing about them later.

[~MummaBear~]

I would have said about 400K but i dont really know. we have a tiny 4 bed 2 bath shoe box and ours is worth about 380 now...not what we paid but what it was valued at LOL so i can only imagine there would be some with way higher and some with lower mortgages