Nick Charalambous: Is your mortgage ready for what's coming?

With the uncertainty in global economics at present, the era of setting a mortgage and forgetting about it is likely over, writes Nick Charalambous

Understanding your own household budget clearly allows you to make better decisions. File picture

For more than a decade, Irish homeowners benefited from unusually low interest rates. Mortgage repayments were affordable, and the idea that borrowing costs could rise significantly felt unlikely to most people. 

That period of stability is now changing, and for the hundreds of thousands of Irish households with a mortgage, understanding what that means has never been more relevant.