Australians have paid an additional $50 billion in mortgage payments during the Covid pandemic, with some more than three years ahead of their repayments.

Low interest rates and reduced spending because of the closed international borders and lockdowns, means many Australians have parked their extra cash in their home loans.

APRA data shows that by the end of 2021 the average homeowner was 45 months in advance. That’s a big step up from the start of 2020 when homeowners were 32 months ahead.

Market Economics managing director Stephen Koukoulas says the pandemic changed spending habits.

“The pandemic changed a lot of things, we did tend to stay at home, didn’t get to spend our money on luxurious things like holidays,” Koukoulas says. “A lot of people decided to take advantage to pay down their mortgage.”

He says many have reduced the time to pay off their mortgages by six or seven years and have a good buffer when interest rates do rise.