Renegotiate, refinance or request a delay: what to do if you’re struggling to pay your mortgage

‘Everything these days is just so much more expensive,’ Victoria Devine says. ‘I don’t think the banks foresaw that.’ Photograph: Brian A Jackson/Getty Images/iStockphoto

In December 2021, 34-year-old Sally* bought her first property – a two-bedroom apartment in Melbourne. The pandemic had been “a really strange time” that made Sally laser-focused on improving her living situation.

“I was really encouraged by all of these think pieces and podcasts that said to get into the market, you have to just be super scrappy, do whatever you can and really sacrifice a lot. But then once you’re in, at least you’ve got an appreciating asset,” she says. “And at that point, Philip Lowe had said that interest rates would not go up before 2024.”