Resident finance journalist Harry O'Sullivan is back from his overseas fact finding mission and is here to chat to us about the US mortgage market vs Australia Fixed-rate mortgages in America reign supreme, and can be locked in for up to 30 years. In contrast Aussies love variable (or floating rate) mortgages. Why is this, and could Australia ever move to be more like America in this regard? It's all to do with how the wholesale funding structures are setup, as well as culture and tastes around homebuying and home loans.