Cian Carolan

Yes.

Okay, so really then depends on the structure of the mortgage.

Okay, so you've got fixed rate mortgages and you've got variable rate mortgages.

Great.

Okay.

So a fixed rate mortgage, it's kind of what it says on the tin.

It's a rate that is fixed for a defined period of time.

So you might hear someone say, I'm on a one year fixed rate or a three or a five and so on.

So depending on how long you've decided to fix for, your rate won't change no matter what the market conditions are in that time.

that's really attractive to borrowers who maybe be early in their careers, where their earnings aren't at their peak levels, where they may have just started a family and they've got peak childcare costs and they want to just manage what is probably otherwise their biggest expense.

So that's, I suppose, the beauty of a fixed rate is it's the peace of mind factor.

And over the last decade, fixed rates have been by and large priced more favourably than variable rates.

And

Variable rates, on the other hand, they're great because when rates are going down, you feel the benefit of it pretty quickly.

By the same token, if you're in a rising interest rate environment, you feel it.

Which we are.

Yeah, yeah.

So you're more likely to feel that much sooner on a variable rate.

So they're the kind of key features of fixed and variable rates.

With variable rates, you can overpay to your heart's content.