In Australia it was a big factor after 1992;  2  With the fall in nominal interest rates, a big front end loading problem in servicing the conventional mortgage was eliminated. See http://www.rba.gov.au/PublicationsAndResearch/Bulletin/bu_oct97/bu_1097_6.pdf.
BIS Review 111/2008  3  •  a period of pretty low long-term interest rates globally, which encouraged borrowing around the world, though this was a bigger factor in the United States than here.