A unit not far from where I live (outer Melbourne suburb) has put up a sign saying they can't pay the mortgage and are having a sale of their possessions. At first I thought they may have recently purchased the place and over extended themselves. It turns out they bought it 12 years ago for <$200k, which got me to thinking how could they possibly be in mortgage stress when repayments would be close to manageable even on unemployment benefits.
It appears that they have borrowed against the unit as the value has risen. There was a late model luxury car in the driveway and who knows what inside the home. I work with several people who would be in the same predicament if they lost their job and couldn't get another one paying similar wages.
