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Single Aussie homeowners need almost four weeks' worth of pay to afford montly mortgage repayments as consistent interest rate rises and cost of living pressures bite budgets.
Canstar research showed for the average Aussie with a loan of $584,836 on a $72,000 salary, they need to work 135 hours per month to afford a repayment of $3883.
This basically equates to 3.6 weeks of work just to afford the basic repayment on a home loan.
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It is better news for Aussies with a dual income which reduces the burden down to 67 working hours or less than two weeks of work per person to cover the same amount.
The research shows the impact of interest rate rises by the Reserve Bank of Australia up to 4.1 per cent is hitting single homeowners the hardest.
"It goes to show it's near impossible to service the average-sized loan in today's climate with only one income," Canstar's Editor-at-Large Effie Zahos said.
It isn't just mortgage repayments hitting single-income homes hard, Zahos said the average monthly grocery shop of $659 means the person would need to work three days in the month to cover the cost.
It is a similar story for other necessities like electricity bills where a single-income homeowner would need to work nearly 6 hours each other to afford a $162 bill.
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The impact is even greater depending on which state you live in with average loan sizes and incomes differing across borders.
In New South Wales, on a home loan of $720,458 and a before-tax income of $75,000. mortgage holders will need to work 21 days in a month to afford their $4784 repayments.
In South Australia, the average income is $65,000 and the average home loan is $467,471 then mortgage holders will have to work 15 days in the month to cover the $3104 repayments.
In Victoria, mortgage holders need to work at least 18 days in the month to cover a repayment of $3980 on a loan of $599,398 and average income of $72,000.
For Queensland mortgage holders it's about 16 days per month if they earn around $69,000 and need to make a $3468 monthly mortgage repayment.
In Western Australia, homeowners need to work 13 days per month on a $78,000 income to afford the $3135 repayments.
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The costs are adding up for Aussies needing to cover their household bills.
"Borrowers paying off an average-sized loan on their own need to work about 135 hours or close to a full month to cover their mortgage repayment," Zahos said.
"That means 82 per cent of their monthly working hours go towards their mortgage which doesn't leave much for other household bills and expenses."
When you throw electricity bills, groceries, home and contents insurance, car insurance on top of the mortgage – a single income earner barely has enough working hours in the day to cover the costs.
Zahos said if you add all these costs up then a single income earning is 11 working hours behind to afford the bills.
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