Fewer Australians falling behind on mortgage

Borrowers have been keeping up with their mortgage payments thanks to successive interest rate cuts and government stimulus actions.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's reported that the arrears fell from 1.66% in March to 1.62% in April. There's been a general trend downward after arrears peaked in January at 1.84%.

But missed payments on subprime loans remain substantially higher at 16.3%. Many borrowers in this segment of the loans market took out their mortgages in 2005 and 2006. Many are unable to refinance because of tightened credit policy.

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