Most Popular
1. It’s a New Macro, the Gold Market Knows It, But Dead Men Walking Do Not (yet)- Gary_Tanashian
2.Stock Market Presidential Election Cycle Seasonal Trend Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
3. Bitcoin S&P Pattern - Nadeem_Walayat
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
4.U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - Raymond_Matison
5. How to Profit from the Global Warming ClImate Change Mega Death Trend - Part1 - Nadeem_Walayat
7.Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - Nadeem_Walayat
9.It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - Stephen_McBride
10.Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - Richard_Mills
Last 7 days
Stocks, Bitcoin and Crypto Markets Breaking Bad on Donald Trump Pump - 21st Nov 24
Gold Price To Re-Test $2,700 - 21st Nov 24
Stock Market Sentiment Speaks: This Is My Strong Warning To You - 21st Nov 24
Financial Crisis 2025 - This is Going to Shock People! - 21st Nov 24
Dubai Deluge - AI Tech Stocks Earnings Correction Opportunities - 18th Nov 24
Why President Trump Has NO Real Power - Deep State Military Industrial Complex - 8th Nov 24
Social Grant Increases and Serge Belamant Amid South Africa's New Political Landscape - 8th Nov 24
Is Forex Worth It? - 8th Nov 24
Nvidia Numero Uno in Count Down to President Donald Pump Election Victory - 5th Nov 24
Trump or Harris - Who Wins US Presidential Election 2024 Forecast Prediction - 5th Nov 24
Stock Market Brief in Count Down to US Election Result 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Gold Stocks’ Winter Rally 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Why Countdown to U.S. Recession is Underway - 3rd Nov 24
Stock Market Trend Forecast to Jan 2025 - 2nd Nov 24
President Donald PUMP Forecast to Win US Presidential Election 2024 - 1st Nov 24
At These Levels, Buying Silver Is Like Getting It At $5 In 2003 - 28th Oct 24
Nvidia Numero Uno Selling Shovels in the AI Gold Rush - 28th Oct 24
The Future of Online Casinos - 28th Oct 24
Panic in the Air As Stock Market Correction Delivers Deep Opps in AI Tech Stocks - 27th Oct 24
Stocks, Bitcoin, Crypto's Counting Down to President Donald Pump! - 27th Oct 24
UK Budget 2024 - What to do Before 30th Oct - Pensions and ISA's - 27th Oct 24
7 Days of Crypto Opportunities Starts NOW - 27th Oct 24
The Power Law in Venture Capital: How Visionary Investors Like Yuri Milner Have Shaped the Future - 27th Oct 24
This Points To Significantly Higher Silver Prices - 27th Oct 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

Variable Interest Rates World, Japan's Home Buyers Up In ARMS

Interest-Rates / Japanese Interest Rates Aug 17, 2014 - 09:11 AM GMT

By: John_Rubino

Interest-Rates

Everyone knows that Japan deeply is in debt and one way or another is going to suffer for it. But for those who thought the story couldn't get any worse, well, the creativity of the financial repressors never ceases to amaze.

It turns out that, in addition to a government that borrows way too much money at unnaturally low rates -- guaranteeing that rates can never be allowed to rise because the cost of paying even 2% interest would bankrupt the country -- Japan's homeowners have discovered the joys of adjustable-rate mortgages:


Homebuyers in Japan seen at risk amid floating-rate loan rush

Japanese homebuyers are piling into floating-rate mortgages, stirring debate over whether they are too complacent as Bank of Japan stimulus revives inflation.

The proportion of home loans with adjustable rates climbed to 42.8 percent of Japan's new lending in February, the highest since December, according to the latest data from Japan Housing Finance Agency. The lowest variable mortgage rate at Japan's three biggest banks was at 0.775 percent, compared with a 10-year fixed rate of 1.3 percent.

Outstanding housing loans to individuals expanded to ¥113.7 trillion ($1.1 trillion), the most since at least 1974 in June as BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's monthly sovereign bond buying aimed at ending deflation made it cheaper than ever to finance a home purchase. Borrowers like 30-year-old retail employee Eriko Brown, who chose a flexible-rate mortgage to buy a house this year, are betting rates won't rise significantly, even as global policymakers fret over how to exit from easing.

"The market has become complacent about risks as monetary easing continues," said Satoshi Okumoto, chief executive officer and president in Tokyo at Fukoku Capital Management Inc., which oversees the equivalent of $18 billion. "Homeowners aren't worried about the risk of yields rising even if they borrow in floating-rate mortgages. They could be caught off guard."

Some thoughts

The point of this series (see parts 1, 2, and 3) is that artificially-low interest rates, also known as financial repression, lead to disaster by inducing people to borrow too much money via either short-term or variable-rate loans. These loans become cripplingly expensive if interest rates return to normal levels, so beyond a certain point a "variable-rate society" can never go back to normal.

Japan was already the poster child for this kind of excess, and now, well, one has to wonder if this new twist even matters. If an interest rate rise to even US and European levels of 2%-3% bankrupts the government, what difference will it make it if also impoverishes a few million mortgage borrowers?

It's possible that the various insanities now rampant in the world (US subprime auto and student loans, expanding bank derivatives books, new Middle East interventions, Chinese ghost cities and shadow banks) are simply icing on a cake that has already been baked. In other words, we went bankrupt in 2000 and have since been rolling a set of loaded dice by borrowing on ever-less-favorable, mostly variable-rate terms like a family borrowing from a loan shark to avoid losing their house. There's no chance of keeping the house and the loan shark won't be nice at all when he comes for it, but at least for another couple of months the neighbors won't have to see a moving van out front.

By John Rubino

dollarcollapse.com

Copyright 2014 © John Rubino - All Rights Reserved

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.


© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in