PHOTO: A huge number of interest-only loans that were approved in 2014-15 are about to expire, increasing repayments for almost a million Australians. Picture: AAP Source: AAP

ALMOST one million Australian homeowners will be dealt a serious budget blow at the start of next year, and it could be the struggling property market’s “ticking time bomb”.

Analysis by comparison website finder.com.au found that of the $706 billion worth of new home loans approved in 2014-15, a worrying 42 per cent of them were for interest-only repayment arrangements.

And more than 900,000 of them will begin expiring from January, reverting to principal and interest payments.

Graham Cooke, insights manager at finder.com.au, said it would add an average of $400 extra per month to repayments.

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