The areas where homeowners are finding it hardest to pay off their mortgage 

The areas where homeowners have been battling the hardest to pay off their mortgages have been revealed.

Mortgage stress has been hampering homeowners on the fringes of Australia’s biggest cities the most, data sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.

Mortgage stress happens when homeowners are spending more than 30 per cent of their pre-tax income on their home loan.

Mortgage stress happens when homeowners are spending more than 30 per cent of their pre-tax income on their home loan (stock image)

For Sydneysiders, those in the city’s outer north and southwestern suburbs have been feeling the pinch the most, with 20 per cent of those in Edmondson Park forking out more than 30 per cent of their income to pay for their mortgage.

The Sutherland Shire’s Kurnell also made the list, with 16 per cent of homeowners reporting a state of stress.

The postcodes where people have been hit the hardest in Melbourne were in the city’s outer northern region and the southeast.

Those in the sunshine had experience mortgage stress at a lower rate than those in Sydney and Melbourne, which was more of a reflection of the city’s lower property prices.

Sally Tindall, director of research at rateCity, told Daily Mail Australia one of the main drivers for mortgage stress was that people had overstretched themselves to get into the property market.

She said the worst would be those who had chosen to try to climb the property market in Sydney and Melbourne during its peak and with small deposits.

The postcodes where people have been hit the hardest in Melbourne were in the city’s outer northern region and the southeast 

Australia’s major cities have also seen a dip in property prices in recent months, which has not helped mortgagees who were struggling to make ends meet, Ms Tindall said. 

‘Someone who bought at the peak might find themselves with very little equity,’ she said. 

All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia next week to see if it will cut interest rates for the first time in three years, which could help those owners who have been feeling the pinch.

The cash rate has been at a record low of 1.5 per cent since August 2016. 

‘To cut the cash rate could help those people out a little bit,’ Ms Tindall said.

‘It might mean only $50 or $60 extra a month, but that can be all the difference.’