Though maybe LEAPS (and for indexes, futures) are a still cheaper way to get leverage.
Edit: goodness, the rates on some of those currencies is less than the dividend yield of those countries' indexes... If I don't expect New Zealand to sink into the sea, is it stupid not to borrow NZD and invest in the NZ top 50?
IIRC, last time I looked at margin out of curiosity with my brokerage firm (schwabs/2014), I also remember to be around 10%.
I can’t help but think we are living in a unattainable economic environment...
My subjetive experience in the USA (Seattle and NYC) is that you can get 4-5% with a steady job and 20% down for primary residence. Anything out of ordinary, like 2nd mortgage (since we are talking about real state as investment), the interest rate goes up (6-7% last time I applied for one).
Also, while the margin rates can be higher, there is more liquidity, smaller transaction costs, and much smaller fees.
Transaction costs are a big one. In some countries there's stamp duty, in the US there are unusually high closing costs (6%?). That said, the bigger the investment the longer I want to hold it, and those transaction fees aren't as steep when amortised over the home-onwership term.
Borrowing to buy a house at 4.5% you might think, "Not much risk, will likely appreciate faster." Borrowing to buy stocks at 10% and you're almost certainly not going to come out ahead.
(Maybe my broker has terrible rates, others could be more reasonable.)