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Mortgage timing

Journal

Journal of Financial Economics

Subject

Finance

Publishing details

Journal of Financial Economics 2009 August Vol 93:2 p 292-324

Authors / Editors

Koijen R S J;Van Hemert O;Van Nieuwerburgh S

Publication Year

2009

Abstract

We study how the term structure of interest rates relates to mortgage choice at both household and aggregate levels. A simple utility framework of mortgage choice points to the long-term bond risk premium as distinct from the yield spread and the long yield as a theoretical determinant of mortgage choice: when the bond risk premium is high, fixed-rate mortgage payments are high, making adjustable-rate mortgages more attractive. We confirm empirically that the bulk of the time variation in both aggregate and loan-level mortgage choice can be explained by time variation in the bond risk premium, whether bond risk premia are measured using forecasters’ data, a vector autoregressive (VAR) term structure model, or a simple household decision rule based on adaptive expectations. The household decision rule moves in lock-step with mortgage choice, lending credibility to a theory of strategic mortgage timing by households.

Keywords

Mortgage choice; Household finance; Bond risk premia

Publication Research Centre

Institute of Finance and Accounting

Available on ECCH

No


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