Mortgage repayments (monthly) dollar values (MRED)

Latest release
Census of Population and Housing: Census dictionary
Reference period
2021

Definition

This variable records the monthly mortgage repayments being paid by a household for the dwelling in which they were counted on Census Night. It is applicable to occupied private dwellings. A private dwelling is defined in Dwelling structure (STRD) and can include caravans in caravan parks, occupied tents, and houseboats.

The Census collects this information in single dollar values. For practical purposes this information is recoded to a specific number of ranges for standard Census products (such as QuickStats and Community Profiles). The ranges are listed in Mortgage repayments (monthly) ranges (MRERD).

Scope

Occupied private dwellings that are owned with a mortgage (including being purchased under a shared equity scheme)

Categories

CodeCategory
0000 - 9999$0 to $9,999 singly
&&&&Not stated
@@@@Not applicable

Number of categories:  10,002

Not applicable (@@@@) category comprises:

  • Occupied private dwellings with Tenure type (TEND) of owned outright, rented, being occupied rent free, being occupied under a life tenure scheme, other and not stated
  • Unoccupied private dwellings
  • Non-private dwellings
  • Migratory, off-shore and shipping SA1s

Question(s) from the Census form

Is this dwelling: (please open this section to view response categories)

Is this dwelling:
Is the dwelling at 1 Smith Street: Include owners of caravans, manufactured homes or houseboats in ‘Owned with a mortgage’ or ‘Owned outright’ regardless of whether or not the site is owned. A shared equity scheme is a government or not-for-profit scheme - assisting people on lower incomes to buy a home by sharing up to 30% of the ownership. Life tenure schemes are a common arrangement in retirement villages. Include leaseholds, and loan and license agreements in ‘Occupied under a life tenure scheme’. • Dwelling ownership • Owned outright • Owned with a mortgage • Purchased under a shared equity scheme • Rented • Occupied rent free • Occupied under a life tenure scheme • Other

Example

Landlord type example - owned outright response selected

Example

Is the dwelling at 1 Smith Street: Include owners of caravans, manufactured homes or houseboats in ‘Owned with a mortgage’ or ‘Owned outright’ regardless of whether or not the site is owned. A shared equity scheme is a government or not-for-profit scheme - assisting people on lower incomes to buy a home by sharing up to 30% of the ownership. Life tenure schemes are a common arrangement in retirement villages. Include leaseholds, and loan and license agreements in ‘Occupied under a life tenure scheme’. Dwelling ownership Owned outright (selected response) Owned with a mortgage Purchased under a shared equity scheme Rented Occupied rent free Occupied under a life tenure scheme Other Rent arrangements These questions do not apply, based on your answer to the previous question.

Example

Landlord type example - rent free response selected

Example

Is the dwelling at 1 Smith Street: Include owners of caravans, manufactured homes or houseboats in ‘Owned with a mortgage’ or ‘Owned outright’ regardless of whether or not the site is owned. A shared equity scheme is a government or not-for-profit scheme - assisting people on lower incomes to buy a home by sharing up to 30% of the ownership. Life tenure schemes are a common arrangement in retirement villages. Include leaseholds, and loan and license agreements in ‘Occupied under a life tenure scheme’. Dwelling ownership Owned outright Owned with a mortgage Purchased under a shared equity scheme Rented Occupied rent free (selected response) Occupied under a life tenure scheme Other

Example

Landlord type example - rented response selected

Example

Is the dwelling at 1 Smith Street: Include owners of caravans, manufactured homes or houseboats in ‘Owned with a mortgage’ or ‘Owned outright’ regardless of whether or not the site is owned. A shared equity scheme is a government or not-for-profit scheme - assisting people on lower incomes to buy a home by sharing up to 30% of the ownership. Life tenure schemes are a common arrangement in retirement villages. Include leaseholds, and loan and license agreements in ‘Occupied under a life tenure scheme’. Dwelling ownership Owned outright Owned with a mortgage Purchased under a shared equity scheme Rented (selected response) Occupied rent free Occupied under a life tenure scheme Other

How much does your household pay for this dwelling?

How much does your household pay for this dwelling?
How much does the household pay for 1 Smith Street? Include rent and mortgage repayments and site fees if the dwelling is a caravan or manufactured home in a caravan park or manufactured home estate. Exclude water rates, council rates, repairs, maintenance, body corporate and other fees. If no payments, please select '$0 or Nil payments'. More information Total dwelling payments $ .00 per week OR $ .00 per fortnight OR $ .00 per month OR $0 or Nil payments

More information

Additional information relating to the question on: How much does your household pay for this dwelling?

More information

How much does the household pay for 1 Smith Street? Include rent and mortgage repayments and site fees if the dwelling is a caravan or manufactured home in a caravan park or manufactured home estate. Exclude water rates, council rates, repairs, maintenance, body corporate and other fees. If no payments, please select '$0 or Nil payments'. More information If exact amount is not known, please provide your best estimate.

How this variable is created

Data for this variable is derived from the Tenure type and Housing costs questions on the Census form. Household repayments data is automatically captured from numeric text responses.

History and changes

The question relating to Mortgage repayments (monthly) dollar values was first asked for the 1976 Census, though in some previous years this variable has been referred to as ‘Housing loan repayments (monthly)’. Since 2011, Nil repayments is recorded as $0 in Mortgage repayments (monthly) dollar values and as a separate category called ‘Nil repayments’ in Mortgage repayments (monthly) ranges. Prior to 2011 a response of nil was coded as ‘Not Stated’.

No changes have been made for 2021.

Data use considerations

The data in these variables is important for the analysis of home ownership and for providing benchmark data for evaluating housing needs, housing finance and housing demand.

Processing Mortgage repayments (monthly) dollar values is subject to some recognition error for responses provided on paper Census forms, particularly when responses incorrectly include cents and the decimal point is missing or unclear. Some high or low values when combined with income may form unlikely combinations. While the data is subject to data assurance checks to ensure an acceptable level of quality, numeric responses are accepted as reported by the respondents on the form.

The non-response rate for Mortgage repayments (monthly) dollar values (MRED) was 6.0% in 2021. This is an increase from 4.2% in 2016.

Related variables and glossary terms

Back to top of the page