New data shows Australian borrowers under severe financial strain are no longer treating house repayments as their top priority
Australians are changing how they manage repayments across credit products when under financial pressure, according to new analysis from Experian's Business Pulse Monthly, which examined which products are most likely to fall into arrears first when borrowers experience financial stress.
The analysis found that while credit cards continue to be among the first repayments to slip at the early stages of stress — measured at 30 or more days past due — repayment priorities shift substantially as stress intensifies. At the severe arrears stage of 90 or more days past due, mortgages are now as likely as credit cards to be the first account to fall behind, a marked departure from historical repayment behaviour.
Auto loans, by contrast, emerged as the least likely product to slip first in the 12 months to December 2025, reflecting what the report describes as the practical importance of vehicles for work, family logistics and daily life.
Experian's findings also point to variation by age group. Younger borrowers, particularly those aged 18 to 25, remained the least likely to allow mortgage repayments to fall into severe arrears. Among borrowers aged over 55, however, mortgages carried a 75% probability of slipping before auto loans once accounts reached 90 or more days past due.
Income and household profile also appear to influence repayment behaviour. Using Experian's Mosaic segmentation tool, the analysis found that higher-income suburban households were more likely to fall behind on mortgage repayments under severe stress, while lower-income, regional or low-skilled households tended to fall behind on credit cards and personal loans before the home loan.
Experian said the findings point to the limitations of relying on traditional repayment hierarchies as indicators of borrower stress.
"Our analysis suggests repayment order can change as stress becomes more severe, and it isn't uniform across all customer segments," said Louis Tsang (pictured right), head of analytics consulting and insights at Experian.
"For lenders and portfolio teams, the key is to interpret early warning signals alongside customer context, product type and the broader environment to tailor approaches across different customer segments."
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