In Canada we don’t have 30 year fixed mortgages, the longest I have heard of anyone getting is 7 years and that’s me. Despite not having cost certainty in the long term we have the same property market issues as every other desirable place to live.
Those mortgages are still subsidized though. A 5-yr term before it adjusts, with upward protections on rate increases is still not what a "free market" would provide. These are government sponsored (in some way) programs to increse demand for homeownership without a corresponding investment in increasing supply.
Housing being used as a bet on appreciation, which fuels buying, which causes appreciation is best solved by building more housing. The way to make housing cheaper (or not be a speculation vehicle) is to build more housing. Full stop.
The loans are fairly close to an ARM in the US, and they're amortized on (typically) 25yr. They also tend to have prepayment penalties, which the US does not have for residential mortgages anymore.
