A lift in the number of Australians behind on their mortgages is a sign of a slowdown in the economy and the problems caused by slow wages growth, the Reserve Bank of Australia has admitted.

The head of the bank's financial stability department, Jonathan Kearns, used an address to a property summit in Canberra on Tuesday to release data showing the number of people in arrears on their home loans had now reached the level recorded during the global financial crisis.

Mortgage arrears rates are at their highest level since the global financial crisis, says the RBA. Credit:Peter Rae

Mr Kearns said although the proportion of people behind was still low at just on 1 per cent of all loans, the growth in mortgages in arrears was evidence of broader issues facing the economy.

He said while arrears rates were not at a level that posed a "risk to financial stability" or would cause "great harm" to households, they were worth watching closely as they were likely to increase.