From the September issue: When the subprime mortgage crisis hit, adjustable-rate mortgages morphed from a widely popular loan option to a widely derided culprit in the residential real estate meltdown.

However, now these variable loans, known as ARMs, are making a major comeback in New York City. Since June, they have spiked to 20 percent of the business at Equity Now, a Manhattan-based direct mortgage lender, from zero throughout 2008 and the beginning of this year.

Brokers at a range of firms making new loans say all the action is in ARMs. For example, they have jumped to 60 percent of new loans processed at Apple Mortgage Corp. this year, compared to 40 percent a year earlier.

The reason for this renewed call to ARMs is simple: In many cases they offer lower interest rates than fixed-term loans do. [more]