In a note yesterday, Moody's Investors Service warned that the proportion of Australian residential mortgages more than 30 days in arrears rose to 1.52 per cent in November 2016, up from 1.20 per cent in November 2015. Moody's pointed out that higher delinquencies raise the risk of mortgage defaults and are therefore credit negative for Australian residential mortgage-backed securities. Moody's expects mortgage delinquencies to continue to increase over 2017 due to weaker conditions in states reliant on the mining industry in particular.