[walrus01]

This is not always a good thing. Inability to lock in a reasonable fixed rate for a 15, 20 or 25 year term in Canada meant that in the early 1980s, for example, when benchmark interest rates were 15%+, people whose 5 year terms came up for renewal had no choice but to renew at 17% interest rates. Ask an older person from AB who lived through the first oil economy bust in Edmonton or Calgary.