I think the issue with that seven-year term and the residential mortgage-backed security market is just the predominance today of the five-year funding structure for lenders and the issuance of five-year commercial bond paper.
I do think that if they were to see merit and acceptance of a longer-term securitization vehicle, it would promote higher usage or higher offering of that term and perhaps at more appealing rates.
For our business, the longer the borrowers are locked in on a rate, the better. It does add more financial stability and more protection from rising interest rates. We know from experience that first-time buyers in particular have a higher risk profile in the first three to five years. Generally speaking, that's when they are establishing themselves in their careers and figuring out the cost of managing a home. Once they get past five years, the risk of default goes down tremendously.
If you can extend more seven-year type paper to borrowers, we think that would be very constructive for our industry. It comes down to again the funding structure that's currently available, the RMBS market, the securitization market and, finally, consumer behaviour on whether there would be penalty if the have to break their mortgage.