Australians are extending their mortgages amid the cost-of-living crisis, taking on more debt in the long run. New research by Finder reveals 13 per cent of people surveyed have extended the length of their home loan in the past 12 months. The average loan size in Australia is $625,050, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
99 per cent, paying the average $625,050 loan off over 30 years would cost a typical homeowner $722,602 in interest. Just pushing that out by five years would add $147,457 extra to the total interest over the life of the loan, Finder’s analysis revealed. Pay off more when you can If you have extended your loan, you should consider paying it down in higher amounts when possible later on, Whitten said. “When you’re stretched, you need to lower repayments straight away,” he said.