iscover 
According to analysis by credit reporting agency Experian, which examined which credit products consumers are most likely to fall behind on first when experiencing financial strain, credit cards remained among the first repayments to slip into arrears, but mortgages shortly after.
Measured at 30-plus days past due, credit cards were the product most likely to fall behind first.
However, data published in Experian's monthly Business Pulse found that mortgages were just as likely as credit cards to be the first product to reach 90-plus days past due.
Experian said that the result marks a significant departure from historical repayment patterns, where home loans were typically the most protected form of debt and often the last repayment borrowers allowed to fall behind.
The analysis also found that auto loans have become increasingly protected. Unlike mortgages and credit cards, car finance was the least likely product to fall into severe arrears first.
No catch-all trend
The data also revealed notable differences across age groups.
Younger Australians remained the most likely to protect their mortgage repayments, with borrowers aged 18 to 25 the least likely cohort to allow a home loan to become the first account in severe arrears.
Older Australians, however, appeared to be contributing more to the shift. Among borrowers aged over 55, mortgages were significantly more likely to slip before auto loans once accounts reached 90-plus days past due.
Repayment behaviour also varied across household types.
The analysis found affluent suburban households were more likely to fall behind on mortgage repayments under severe stress, while lower-income regional and low-skilled households were more likely to miss repayments on credit cards and personal loans before their home loan.
Louis Tsang, head of analytics consulting and insights at Experian, said lenders and advisers should be careful not to view arrears behaviour through a one-size-fits-all lens.
“Our analysis suggests repayment order can change as stress becomes more severe, and it isn’t uniform across all customer segments,” Tsang said.
“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.”
[Related: Brokers claim record slice of mortgage market]
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?Make Broker Daily a preferred news source on Google.