A growing-equity mortgage is a type of mortgage in which the payments increase over time, but the amortization period stays the same. This means that as the payments increase, the amount applied to the principal balance also increases, resulting in a faster rate of mortgage payoff. This type of mortgage is often used to help homebuyers who may not qualify for a traditional mortgage with a large down payment and high monthly payments, but who can afford to increase their payments over time as their income increases. This way, over the course of the loan, the homebuyer can actually build equity in the property faster, hence the name “Growing-Equity Mortgage”