Imagine the debt mortgage holders would have in these houses in Sydney’s west. Picture: John Appleyard

HOUSING debt for owner-occupiers has climbed to record levels while people are keeping their other loans low, a new analysis of official data has found.

More than 89 per cent of our personal debt is now for home loans — up from 81 per cent just over a decade ago, and the debt per adult has more than doubled.

Rising house prices have been the key reason but financial experts say it also shows that people are getting smarter with their borrowings and putting more purchases against low-interest home loans rather than expensive credit cards.

Finder.com.au examined data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and found that the amount of owner-occupier housing debt per adult jumped from $20,802 to $49,165 between 2004 and 2015.

“House prices in Australia have been increasingly rapidly, almost doubling in some cities,” said Finder consumer advocate Bessie Hassan.

Finder.com.au’s Bessie Hassan says home loan sizes have far outpaced inflation rises.Source:Twitter

She said the average home loan size nationally had jumped from $189,300 to $372,400 since 2004, almost 100 per cent. “This far outpaces inflation, which would have increased an asset by only about 36 per cent.

“We expect this trend to continue as long as Australia’s housing market continues to grow, and demand for housing continues to increase.”

About one third of Australians have a mortgage, one third are renters and one third own their homes outright.

Finder also found that combined credit card and personal loan debt climbed less than 18 per cent to $5885 per adult, while a separate analysis from CommSec shows the average credit card balance fell to $3114.30 in January and the use of card limits is at a 14-year low.

“Consumers continue to be savvy about plastic card use. The average credit balance has gone backwards over the past year,” said CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian.

“Cardholders are frequently paying off credit card debt by the due date and using cards to maximise loyalty points,” he said.

Mortgage and consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said people were realising it made more financial sense to borrow at the lowest interest rate available to them — which was the housing loan rate.

Mortgage and Consumer Finance Expert Lisa Montgomery praised the population’s ability to control debt. Picture: Melvyn KnipeSource:News Corp Australia

“Australians are really smart when it comes to their debt. We are far more educated than most other countries in relation to the cost of debt and the impact of debt,” she said.

Ms Montgomery said consumers were keeping a lid on their credit card limits after rule changes in recent years put the brakes on banks offering regular rises.

“People are really conscious of limits because the higher the limit, the less borrowing capacity you have in relation to other loans,” she said.

EMAIL:anthony.keane@news.com.au