Improvement in arrears but trough still to come

The number of mortgages reported in arrears increased to 1.51% in February, with 22,600 mortgage holders behind on their payments, the highest level since January 2020, data from credit reporting bureau Centrix shows.

Alongside rising mortgage arrears, non-performing home loans at 90+ days past due have risen sharply over the last three months.

Year-on-year the number of non-performing home loans is up by 44%, while early arrears are holding steady over the past year.

Meanwhile mortgage arrears are on the rise for loans opened during the period when the OCR rate hikes occurred (since October 2021). Thirty-plus-days arrears at 24 months on the books have risen from 0.2% to 0.5% in the past two years.