variable rate mortgage

Meaning

1. 1nouncountablefinance

   A home loan whose interest rate can go up or down over time, so the monthly payment may change.

   Grammar: Countable: she took out a variable rate mortgage; many buyers compare variable rate mortgages.

   Patterns

   • a variable rate mortgage with someone
   • switch to a variable rate mortgage

   When interest rates rose, the payments on their variable rate mortgage climbed too.

   A variable rate mortgage can be cheaper at first, but it carries more risk.

   She is thinking about moving from a variable rate mortgage to a fixed deal.

Word forms

Common combinations

take out a variable rate mortgage

They took out a variable rate mortgage to keep early costs low.

switch from a variable rate mortgage

He switched from a variable rate mortgage after the bank raised its rate.

standard variable rate mortgage

Many homeowners drift onto a standard variable rate mortgage when a deal ends.

variable rate mortgage payments

Variable rate mortgage payments can change every few months.

tracker variable rate mortgage

A tracker variable rate mortgage follows the central bank's rate.

Synonyms and how they differ

adjustable-rate mortgage

Adjustable-rate mortgage is the common American term and often means a loan with a fixed starter period before the rate begins to change.

floating-rate loan

Floating-rate loan is a broader finance term that applies to many kinds of borrowing, not just home loans.

tracker mortgage

A tracker mortgage is one kind of variable deal in which the rate moves in step with a named base rate.

Opposites

Word family

vary verb

to change or differ

variable adjective

able to change

variability noun

how much something changes

mortgage noun

a loan used to buy property

Commonly confused: variable rate mortgage or fixed rate mortgage?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “variable rate mortgage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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