A multinational mortgage is a
mortgage which is linked to a specific currency. For instance in some countries
the interest rates can be much lower such as Switzerland which averages 1.75 per
cent and the Euro zone generally which is about three to 3.5% on average.
Consequently homeowners and investors can obtain cheaper finance to purchase
their property even though the mortgage may be based in a different currency
then used by the country where the property resides. The major risk of this to
product is that the value of the currency may fall significantly. This was
graphically illustrated in 1992 on black Wednesday when there was a run on the
pound and Sterling was withdrawn from the European exchange rate mechanism. At
that time interest rates shot up to 15%, demonstrating that sharp rises in
interest rates are not on head off. The obvious advantage is that mortgages can
be attained much cheaper and consequently the potential to borrow more money
exists.
For investors or homeowners have
not afraid of taking an additional risk the multinational mortgage can also be
based on a range of currencies and not just one currency. The mortgage lender
aims to predict those currencies which will depreciate against the value of
Sterling in the longer term. Monies are swapped between currencies on a monthly
basis based on future predictions. This has the impact of actually reducing the
size of a mortgage without the lender actually paying any a bit of. Of course,
if the value of those currencies chosen rises then the borrower faces the
prospect of having a larger mortgage them which they started with. If interest
rates what are known in those countries as well that acts as a double whammy.