[GeorgeF]

If you go with a variable you are accepting the interest rate risk. What would happen if rates go up. Do you loose the house and down payment or do you stop going out for diner for a few years? Is there a down payment that you are protecting, or can you walk away from the house by declaring bankrupcy? How stable will your employement be? If you go with an variable will you be saving the difference to use if interest rates go against you, or are you using the variable rate to buy more house than on a fixed, or will you go shopping with the saved money?

I don't think a variable is a bad idea as long as you are not using it as a tool to speculate in real estate or create cash flow for shopping.

Nobody knows where interest rates are going. I personally think that long term rates are headed down, especially outside the USA. I think low not high rates will cause real estate problems. If you see real estate being built everywhere at some point it will become overbuilt and very likely way overbuilt.