The mortgage-credit market has also traditionally been closely regulated in terms of maturities, mortgageable limits and types of loans. The limitations on access to lending, designed to steer cyclical development, were gradually removed so that legislation was based solely on the security aspects. Up to the mid-1990s this system by and large reigned supreme.
But then the development of new mortgage-credit products began to take off. Today there is a choice between not only fixed and adjustable interest rates, but also mixes such as adjustable interest rates with a ceiling and deferred amortisation for fixed periods, while commercial banks have also joined the market to offer mortgage loans.