Credit rating agency Moody’s has published figures showing mortgage arrears in Aberdeen running at double the UK average rate following the oil price slump.
Moody’s Investors Service said 5.5% of property lending in the Granite City was currently in default, more than treble the level in 2012.
And it warned arrears could rise further in Europe’s energy capital amid volatility in the oil and gas industry, growing unemployment and a weaker housing market.
Moody’s vice-president and senior analyst Christophe Larpin said the prevailing market conditions in Aberdeen were symptomatic of a two-speed economy.
He added: “The region’s dependency on the oil industry has led to accelerated unemployment since mid-2015, while the rate has fallen in the rest of the UK overall.
“The housing market has suffered, with higher arrears.”
Moody’s also looked at mortgage arrears in the Dutch city of Groningen, which it said was suffering a different kind of oil and gas impact.
Groningen’s residents were “plagued” by earthquake risks due to gas field operations, forcing down house prices and hampering the recovery prospects for defaulted mortgages, the agency said.
Mr Larpin added: “Although 180,000 houses in Groningen have lost a combined 1billion euros (£787million) in in value due to earthquake risks, and despite the fact that energy output will materially decrease over the long term, mortgage arrears remain stable and at par with the Netherlands’ national level – unlike Aberdeen.”