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)

How much does your household pay for this dwelling?

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

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