The level of mortgage stress hitting New South Wales families has been labelled the 'perfect storm'.
Of Australia's eight million homeowners, one in ten are suffering the pinch from some sort of mortgage pay.
The figure is expected to rise from 784,000 to one million within three months.
New research by Fujitsu consulting has also found New South Wales has the highest rate of stress, loan defaults and delinquencies.
It is not just Sydney battlers who are suffering with defaults now hitting more affluent areas like Chatswood and Bondi.
The staggering figures are being blamed on the usual suspects: increasing petrol prices, interest rates and the cost of food.