In Canada there is no 30 year fixed product. Most people float month to month. Since interest rates have been dropping since 2002 prices will go up. Australia is very similar.
> 73%: Percentage of mortgage holders with fixed-rate mortgages in 2020 Down from 74% in 2019
> 22%: Percentage of mortgages that have variable or adjustable rates Down from 21% in 2019
https://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/2021/03/the-state-of-...
America is used to things like 30 year term, 30 year amortization. This is an American fixed product.
I’m Canada, that doesn’t exist.
In Canada, you have things like 5 year term, 25 year amortization. That’s a fixed product (and it’s expensive).
After many years of locking terms, I just use floating rates for financing all my Canadian real estate. Huge savings.
Though I believe a lot more people are using insured high ratio mortgages given how low the rates are.
Second: it's more complex than "no 30 year fixed". I have a 30 year mortgage, but I need to 'renew' (renegotiate) it for a new term whenever my term ends- typically 5 years, though I chose a 3-year term last time. The internet rate is fixed throughout the term. At renew, it's totally normal to change banks if they offer a better rate.
However, I've since had 2 cases that make the fixed rates more understandable. 1. In order to lower mortgage payments and provide longer stability in monthly payments that I could pass on to tenants, I got a 10yr fixed rate (around 3.4%) amortized over 30 years for an investment property 2+ years ago
2. I recently had to renew my own variable mortgage and I tried to go with variable again, however my mortgage provider wouldn't give me the variable rates advertised on ratehub.ca cause they were only for new customers. It resulted in me having to go with a 5yr fixed rate with another provider cause that was the next lowest that would work for me. I wasn't happy.
Buy with 20% down and housing prices drop 10%? You’ll need to cough up that money.