The graph shows household debt as a per cent of household disposable income from 1980 to 2002 for a selection of eight countries: Australia, US, Canada, Japan, UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
The graph shows that for most of these countries household debt has tended
to rise over time as a share of disposable income. Over the past decade, this
ratio in Australia has risen from a level that was low by international standards
(56 per cent) to one that is in the upper end of the range of other comparable
countries (125 per cent).
[End description.]
The graph shows two different patterns of movement in the debt to income ratio as the age of the household head increases.
The top panel shows an 'old pattern', whereby the debt to income ratio rises sharply in the mid-20s, corresponding to when the household head takes on a mortgage, and gradually declines thereafter as the debt is repaid.
The lower panel shows a 'new pattern', whereby the debt to income ratio still
rises in the mid-20s, but thereafter follows a gradually declining saw-tooth
pattern. The saw-tooth pattern is caused by the ability to refinance the loan
or to use new lending products such as home equity loans and mortgages with
redraw facilities to top up debt over the lifetime, rather than simply allowing
it to decline with principal repayments.
[End description.]
The graph shows household interest payments for Australia as a per cent of household disposable income from 1977 to 2002. Two measures of the debt-servicing ratio are shown, one corresponding to total interest payments and one corresponding to mortgage interest payments. The mortgage line lies below the total line.
The graph shows that the total and mortgage debt-servicing ratios have tended
to rise over time, with a cyclical pattern that corresponds roughly with the
cycle in interest rates. The total debt-servicing ratio peaked in the late 1980s
at around 8¼ per cent and is currently somewhat lower than that peak,
at around 7½ per cent. The rise in the mortgage line was not as great
in the late 1980s as for the total line. The upward trend in this line over
the 1990s is also more pronounced than for the total line. The debt-servicing
ratio for mortgages is currently around 6 per cent, the highest point in the
history of the series shown.
[End description.]
The graph shows housing debt for Australia as a per cent of household assets from 1977 to 2002.
The graph shows that the gearing ratio has increased from around 10 per cent
to just over 20 per cent over the sample, with most of the increase occurring
in the 1990s.
[End description.]
The graph shows household interest payments for Australia as a per cent of household disposable income from 1977 to 2002. Two measures of the debt-servicing ratio are shown, one corresponding to total interest payments and one corresponding to mortgage interest payments. The mortgage line lies below the total line.
The graph shows that the total and mortgage debt-servicing ratios have tended
to rise over time, with a cyclical pattern that corresponds roughly with the
cycle in interest rates. The total debt-servicing ratio peaked in the late 1980s
at around 8¼ per cent and is currently somewhat lower than that peak,
at around 7½ per cent. The rise in the mortgage line was not as great
in the late 1980s as for the total line. The upward trend in this line over
the 1990s is also more pronounced than for the total line. The debt-servicing
ratio for mortgages is currently around 6 per cent, the highest point in the
history of the series shown.
[End description.]