Mortgage stress easing for some, but with further pain likely, Rudd's handout went straight to the bank for many.

28/01/09 09:59
n January 2009, households in Mortgage stress fell 6% from December with 635,000 households in some degree of pain, compared with a peak of 900,000 in August 2008. Significantly there was a 15% fall in those facing a potential sale or foreclosure, thanks to the significant drop in interest rates, and the government payments in December. Young Families and First Time Buyers experienced significant reductions in stress. 161,000 households still are at risk of having to sell up or loose their homes.
Martin North, Managing Director, Fujitsu Consulting said "the research highlighted that for many cost of living concerns have dissipated thanks to falling rates and fuel prices. However, there is growing concern about the potential for rising unemployment to drive stress up again." He further states, "Since July 2008, fear of unemployment has risen by 15%, the impact of poor investment returns by 12% and redundancy by 5%. In contrast 28% fewer households were being driven into stress by high interest rates and 11% fewer households were being impacted by high costs of living."

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