In Western countries, a dichotomous mortgage interest rate policy is common: fixed interest rates or variable interest rates. In contrast, in Israel, the mortgage product is considered an "anomaly" in terms of the distribution of the mortgage into secondary loans (it is customary to take a mortgage with 1/3 fixed non-linked interest, 1/3 variable linked interest, and 1/3 linked to the prime interest rate). The Bank of Israel examined 10 countries and found that only Ireland and Australia have similar proposals to this structure, and there is no evidence of such a phenomenon in the research literature.
In countries characterized by a socio-democratic or corporatist economic-political system, fixed interest rates are common. That is, in countries with generous welfare policies and high regulation levels in the housing and labor markets. For example, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, Denmark, and Luxembourg. The exceptions in this group are the United Kingdom and the United States, as will be expanded upon later.
In contrast, in countries characterized by a neo-liberal economic-political system like Ireland, Australia, and Canada, or countries in Eastern and Southern Europe with relatively modest welfare policies, a higher rate of unemployment, and lower regulation levels in the housing market (especially in rental housing), variable interest rates are commonly used. For example, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Latvia, Slovenia, and Poland.