The reverse mortgage is not something that is unique to American home owners. People in various parts of the world are enjoying the same benefits (and facing the same problems) with the reverse mortgage that we are experiencing here in the United States. But the financial history of those regions may cause for a more complex situation for the borrower.
An article about reverse mortgage confusion in Australia points out:
"Half the Australian population have only known good economic times. The other half have difficulty remembering the bad ones. In the last 2 years the reverse mortgage market has doubled to $1.8 billion with more than 31,000 such mortgages in place in Australia. This is expected by the industry to grow to between $12 billion and $15 billion in 2 years." (source)
This indicates that there are a lot of people in Australia looking in to reverse mortgages but that they may not be familiar with the economic ups and downs that make these mortgages both a benefit and a drawback to the borrower.
This suggests that reverse mortgage education for seniros in Australia may have to differ somewhat from that of the education given to seniors in the United States in order to make sure that they have the financial understanding that they need to be able to use these loans without problems.
Question of the Day: Are reverse mortgage problems different in Australia than they are in the U.S.?
