PHOTO: Most Aussie homeowners don’t realise this
Here’s Why Your Mortgage Repayments Aren’t Paying Off Your Home Like You Think🎯 The Reality Check That Shook a First-Home Buyer
Sydney-based Evy Kassiotes, 25, finally cracked the Aussie dream — she bought a house in October 2023.
But less than two years in, she made a chilling discovery: she’d paid just $3,000 off her actual loan principal after shelling out thousands in repayments.Her reaction? “Owning a home is actually such a scam.”
And honestly — she might be right.
🏦 The Mortgage Trap: Where Your Money Really Goes
Most Aussie homeowners don’t realise this: when you start paying off your mortgage, the vast majority of your repayments go straight into the bank’s pocket as interest, not toward owning your home.
💸 Out of every $100 you repay in the early years, up to $80+ can go to interest.
That’s how Evy — who’s working two jobs — ended up barely chipping away at her loan balance, despite consistent repayments.
“It’s now May 2025 and we’ve only paid $3,000 off the loan. I felt like I was being pranked,” she said.
📉 Why This Happens: The Bank’s Dirty Secret
Banks use what’s called an amortisation schedule — a sneaky little system where:
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🏦 Interest is front-loaded: You pay more interest early on and less over time
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📉 Principal repayment starts tiny and only grows gradually
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💼 Loan terms are long — typically 25-30 years, stretching out the pain
So while you’re thinking you’re “investing in your future,” the bank is raking in cash, especially during the early stages.
Evy Kassiotes (pictured) received a shocking letter in the mail after purchasing her first home in Sydney in October 2023
💬 The Internet Reacts: “Owning a Home Is the Biggest Scam”
After Evy’s TikTok video went viral, the comments rolled in:
“Daylight robbery! I can’t bring myself to look anymore.”
“The biggest scam is owning your home. All the fees, interest, repairs… then council rates forever.”
“I work in lending and I’m STILL bitter about how little I’ve paid off.”
Even professionals in the industry are fed up.
Ms Kassiotes said she knows owning your home is a ‘privilege’ but was shocked to learn how little she’d paid off her loan so far despite plugging away at repayments for 18 months (stock)
💡 Offset Accounts: A Glimmer of Hope?
Some commenters offered Evy advice: use an offset account to reduce interest. One user claimed their offset knocked 1.5 years off their loan without increasing repayments.
But Evy already had one — and still wasn’t seeing meaningful progress. Why? Because an offset account only helps if you have savings in it — and not everyone has spare cash lying around.
@evy.kassiotes I understand the privilege of owning a home but also WTF????
🏗️ And Then There’s the Bigger Picture…
Home prices in Australia keep rising, with the median now at $831,288 (CoreLogic/Cotality data, May 2025).
Add in:
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🚫 A housing undersupply
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🚀 High migration
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📈 Stubbornly high interest rates
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💥 Record-high property valuations
…and you’ve got a recipe where first-home buyers are set up to struggle from day one.
🧠 Final Thought: Is the “Great Aussie Dream” a Lie?
Evy’s story is more than just one woman’s frustration — it’s a reflection of a broken system where ownership feels more like lifelong servitude than financial security.
As long as the banking system keeps prioritising profit over progress, buyers like Evy will keep waking up to the same brutal truth:
You don’t own your home — the bank does.
SOURCE: THE DAILY MAIL