As others said it depends on where you are in the mortgage cycle. This is why it is also important for people who keep refinancing to pull out money. You have to look at the big picture and decide what works best for you.
The principle paydown increases with every payment?... on a fix rate loan years 1-5 are not different. Amortized loans are front loaded so the first few years are literally all interest with very little principle paydown.
This conversation is powerful because amortization is a trap. The old saying "keeping up with the Joneses" applies here because home owners that buy bigger and bigger houses never get out of the front loaded zone of a loan it's just transferred into a bigger place.
Exactly, that is what I mean by 1-5 being different. The interest is front-loaded on the amortization schedule....so the loan paydown percent annually would be different in those beginning years than they would be later when the interest is less front-loaded.
The amount you pay with each payment is different. You will pay down the least in the first payment, and the most in the last, and the amount you pay with each payment goes up with each payment. This is a form of revers compounding. So you see, the average amount per month/year is a useless piece of info.
As others said it depends on where you are in the mortgage cycle. This is why it is also important for people who keep refinancing to pull out money. You have to look at the big picture and decide what works best for you.