Mortgage arrears now at highest levels since March 2020

Mortgage arrears rose to 1.32% last month, their highest level since March 2020, while late payments across all consumer loans were at 11.7%, ahead of pre-covid levels for the first time.Credit bureau Centrix said there were 19,500 mortgage accounts in the ‘late payment’ bracket, up more than a third on last June on the back of higher interest rates. Queenstown-Lakes borrowers remained as the most likely to be paying ‘interest only’ at 10.8% of mortgage holders, followed by Aucklanders at 8.25%. Their average o...