Research rewards: Mortgage brokers can assist with finding appropriate lenders and loan products. Photo: Rob Homer.


Homeowners in the ACT pay the highest average mortgage repayments in the country according to new census data.


And homeowners in the territory are more likely than any other state to owe money on their homes, the Australian Bureau of Statistics report shows.


Based on data from the 2011 census, the percentage of dwellings owned with a mortgage was 38.9 per cent in the ACT, which was marginally higher than 2006 figures.


Just beyond the territory’s borders was also a cluster of homes owned with a mortgage to the north around Yass and Goulburn, where the percentage exceeded 40 per cent.


Canberrans also forked out the most on average for their mortgage, with a median monthly repayment of $2167, up 44.5 per cent from the 2006 figure of $1500.


The jump in mortgage repayments was higher than the national average, which climbed 38.5 per cent from $1300 a month in 2006 to $1800 a month in 2011.


The rise in mortgage costs was significantly higher than growth in wages, which rose an average of 20.2 per cent over the same period. The average cost of renting shot over that time has also shot up, rising 49.2 per cent to $285 per week.