In other countries, there's often reasons to go adjustable rate, as the discount for doing so vs the fixed rate can be pretty large at times. Ultimately, on eve

In other countries, there's often reasons to go adjustable rate, as the discount for doing so vs the fixed rate can be pretty large at times. Ultimately, on every loan worth decades, one side is carrying the interest rate risk, and you'd expect the terms to reflect it. In the US, however, the US government have found it politically convenient to have fixed rate loans be the majority. Thus, their interventions on the mortgage market work in such a way as to make the fixed rate mortgage a better deal. So yes, in the US, adjustable rates are rarely the best of ideas if you can get a conforming loan instead. Ever see how a Jumbo loan for a really expensive house suddenly has a higher interest rate, regardless of whether it's really a safe investment on the property or not? That's probably what the fixed rates would be for everyone without government intervention. But then your average voter, who is also probably claiming a mortgage interest deduction, can think they bought their house with nobody's help. In the case of commercial real estate loans for apartment complexes, I suspect that conforming loans just can't happen, making fixed rates different from what a typical homeowner would get for their own house. As the spread between fixed and adjustable changes, the decision of what is better stops being so simple.