Friday, 19 August 2011

Exploring The Key Mortgage Market Basics

By Adriana Noton


Mortgage market basics should attract the interest of any prospective property owner who requires asset financing. A mortgage loan is a loan advanced mainly to finance property acquisition. The property to be purchased in normal circumstances acts as security for this loan.

These loans have some basic features that include the amount of the loan, the terms for such a loan, the repayment schedule and the interest rate imposed on the loan. The loan amount is the quantified economic value of the financing provided. The loan term has the fine legal details of the contractual loan agreement. The repayment schedule shows how and the period over which the loan will be repaid. The contract interest rate is the interest rate for the principal sum over a given duration.

This type of loan has some underlying risks. The risk associated with the inability of mortgagors to repay is known as the default risk. This poses significant risk on the part of lenders. The risk associated with the fluctuations of interest rates due to market mechanisms is known as market risk. When the rates of interest rise, the lender loses. The opposite scenario is true since when rates of interest are on a downfall, the lender gains.

There are various types of lenders involved in the provision of mortgages. Institutional lenders and private lenders are the commonly mentioned lenders. Institutional lenders include conventional financial institutions such as commercial banks. Savings and loans and credit institutions are further examples of institutional lenders. Corporations and individuals who do not operate according to government guidelines mainly make up the private lenders.

There are various types of mortgage application. Stable rate mortgages and flexible rate mortgages are the most common. In the case of stable rate mortgages the interest rate remains constant throughout the repayment period. In the case of flexible rate mortgages, the interest rate on the loan varies according to price mechanism. This leaves the mortgagor more exposed but he or she has the extra incentive of enjoying reduced interest rates whenever possible.

There are two types of markets for mortgages namely primary and secondary mortgage markets. Primary markets create mortgages. Secondary markets purchase existing mortgages from existing markets.

There are innumerable reasons as to why people take mortgages. A key reason though is to finance property purchases. By means of mortgages many homes have been bought throughout the world. The property to be purchased in most cases acts as collateral for the mortgage. In most cases such property cannot be transferred during the contract period. Mortgages have also been used for refinancing so as to obtain lower rates of interest. Other than that, mortgages have been used by many people in consolidating payments for tax deductions.

In current times, it is highly advisable for prospective mortgagors to fully understand mortgage market basics. This will enable them to strike the best loan deals. They will not easily fall into a debt trap and they will always get value for money.




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