People are falling behind on their mortgages across WA at record rates as the State’s economic struggles flow through to the pay packets of homebuyers.

As high property prices on the East Coast start to crimp spending there, a new report from ratings agency Moody’s has highlighted the lingering problems across WA.

It found 3 per cent of WA mortgage holders were at least 30 days behind on their repayments, the highest rate in the country and the highest on record. Across the State, the delinquency rate across Perth was almost 2.7 per cent.

In regional areas, which includes property markets such as Port Hedland and Karratha which have been hardest hit by the end of the mining boom, the delinquency rate is now above 5 per cent.

Moody’s senior analyst Alena Chen said growing delinquency rates increased the chance of outright mortgage default. She said in the case of WA it was clear the slowing economy had hurt homebuyers.

“Relatively poorer economic and housing market conditions in WA have contributed to the record high level of mortgage delinquencies,” she said.

The delinquency rate comes on top of figures showing house values across WA falling and the slowest growing wages in the country.

Ms Chen said there was also a risk the national property market would get tougher through the rest of this year and into next year.

“Weaker conditions in States reliant on the mining industry, high underemployment, and less favourable housing market and income dynamics will continue to drive delinquencies higher,” she said.

There have been positive signs about the WA economy with new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday showing the highest monthly car sales since March last year.

But the same figures showed new sales of “luxury” cars, such as Aston Martins and Jaguars, have started falling.

CommSec chief equities economist Craig James said car sales had run up in line with the hot East Coast property market over recent years but had now fallen to 15-month lows.

“In the past when the ‘top-end’ of the new vehicle market has peaked it has signalled slowdowns, not just in the car market, but also in other areas such as the housing market,” he said.