LOCAL EDITION • Q2 2026

Fremantle: mortgage stress by postcode, Q2 2026

City of Fremantle and Town of East Fremantle — postcodes 6158, 6159, 6160 and 6162. A local cut of the Q2 2026 data, prepared for the Fremantle Herald.

Published 21 September 2026 · Data to 30 June 2026

Foreword: Fremantle

Fremantle’s mortgage stress story in Q2 2026 is not about outer growth corridors. It is about an established, high-amenity coastal enclave where big mortgages on expensive homes have stopped adding up.

This local edition of the OurTop10 Mortgage Stress Report, powered by Digital Finance Analytics, cuts the national Q2 2026 data down to the four postcodes that make up the City of Fremantle and the Town of East Fremantle: Fremantle (6160), Beaconsfield (6162), North Fremantle (6159) and East Fremantle (6158). Together they hold roughly 14,600 households, of which about 5,400 carry an owner-occupier mortgage.

Across those four postcodes, around 3,280 mortgaged households were in cash-flow stress at the end of June 2026 — about 61% of everyone with a home loan. That is up roughly 20% on a year earlier, even after a fall this quarter driven almost entirely by East Fremantle. The standout is North Fremantle, where stress has now reached every mortgaged household the model can see.

“The direction is what worries me. A year ago North Fremantle had about 140 stressed households. Three months ago it was 425. Now it’s 689, which is every mortgaged household in the postcode. Across the four Fremantle postcodes stress is up around 20% on a year ago, and the number of households at risk of default has gone from about 210 to 257 in a single quarter. Each report is worse than the last, and nothing in the rate or cost-of-living picture suggests the next one will break that pattern.”

Mansour Soltani, Head of Research, OurTop10

Commentary from Digital Finance Analytics

“Our surveys highlighted rising levels of financial stress across these suburbs, driven by high demand for property, with bigger mortgages, whilst incomes in real terms are not growing. East Fremantle higher-income households can absorb some inflation, but large mortgages on high-value properties still feel rate rises. Over time this is catching up with many and we expect more rate rises from the RBA will add to stress ahead.

Fremantle’s profile shows notable numbers on Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, and Rent Assistance, indicating that a non-trivial share of households are already close to or in housing stress. For these groups, the combination of higher rents, inflation, and limited income growth increases risks of arrears, forced relocation, or homelessness.

This is an area to watch in the months ahead. We have seen some banks reducing their borrowing power in this area, due to assessed higher risks.”

Martin North, Principal of Digital Finance Analytics

Local snapshot: mortgage stress by postcode

Two of the four Fremantle postcodes recorded a rise in mortgage stress over the quarter. North Fremantle (6159) was the biggest riser by a wide margin, up 62% from around 425 stressed households to roughly 690 — which is every mortgaged household in the postcode. Over 12 months the count has risen almost fivefold (+396%) from a low base of about 140.

Beaconsfield (6162) rose 12% for the quarter to around 1,090 stressed households, though it remains 3% below a year ago. Fremantle (6160) was flat (–1%) at roughly 1,170 households but is up 23% on the year and carries the highest stress count of the four. East Fremantle (6158) fell 66%, from about 980 to 330, the only postcode below its year-earlier level by volume.

Severe stress and default risk

Severe stress captures households whose cash flow runs deeply and persistently negative. In North Fremantle it jumped from about 140 households to roughly 600 in one quarter (+325%) — around 87% of the postcode’s mortgaged households. A year ago the model recorded none. Fremantle (6160) eased 10% to about 560 severely stressed households but remains 19% above a year ago.

Default risk is the slower-moving measure, and it rose in all four postcodes. Around 257 households across the Fremantle area are now modelled as at risk of default, up from about 210 three months ago (+22%) and roughly 213 a year ago. Beaconsfield carries the largest count (about 97 households, up 37%), while North Fremantle posted the fastest annual rise (+48%).

Who is under pressure: Fremantle vs East Fremantle

Digital Finance Analytics’ survey work and demographic profiling point to two different kinds of pressure sitting side by side.

Demographic and rental figures are as supplied by Digital Finance Analytics, drawing on ABS population estimates and rental market data to March 2026.

Fremantle FAQs

Why does North Fremantle show 100% of mortgaged households in stress?

As a postcode approaches the upper bound, the model reports approximately 100% (with a margin of roughly ±2% depending on sample size). In real terms it is possible for nearly all mortgaged households in an area to be cash-flow negative, though with varying severity. The trend is the significant issue: on average it takes three to five years from sustained cash-flow pressure to default.

Why did East Fremantle’s stress count fall so sharply?

East Fremantle is a small, high-income postcode where a handful of survey responses can move the modelled count. Its severe-stress reading moved from zero a year ago, to about 630 last quarter, to zero this quarter. Read the quarter-on-quarter figures as volatile; the steadier signal is default risk, which rose 9% over the quarter and 11% over the year.