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Borrower Self-Selection, Underwriting Costs, and Subprime Mortgage Credit Supply

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  • Joseph Nichols
  • Anthony Pennington-Cross
  • Anthony Yezer

Abstract

In the U.S., households participate in two very different types of credit markets. Personal lending is characterized by continuous risk-based pricing in which lenders offer households a continuous distribution of borrowing possibilities based on estimates of their creditworthiness. This contrasts sharply with mortgage markets where lenders specialize in specific risk categories of borrowers and mortgage supply is stepwise linear. The contrast between continuous lending for personal loans and discrete lending by specialized lenders for mortgage credit has led to concerns regarding the efficiency and equity of mortgage lending. This paper sheds both theoretical and empirical light on the differences in the two credit markets. The theory section demonstrates why, in a perfectly competitive credit market where all lenders have the same underwriting technology, mortgage credit supply curves are stepwise linear and lenders specialize in prime or subprime lending. The empirical section then provides evidence that borrowers are being effectively sorted based on risk characteristics by the market. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2004

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Nichols & Anthony Pennington-Cross & Anthony Yezer, 2004. "Borrower Self-Selection, Underwriting Costs, and Subprime Mortgage Credit Supply," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 197-219, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jrefec:v:30:y:2004:i:2:p:197-219
    DOI: 10.1007/s11146-004-4879-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter Linneman & Susan Wachter, 1989. "The Impacts of Borrowing Constraints on Homeownership," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 17(4), pages 389-402, December.
    2. Anthony Pennington-Cross & Joseph Nichols, 2000. "Credit History and the FHA-Conventional Choice," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 28(2), pages 307-336.
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    4. Pennington-Cross, Anthony, 2003. "Credit History and the Performance of Prime and Nonprime Mortgages," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 279-301, November.
    5. Donald R. Haurin & Susan M. Wachter & Patric H. Hendershott, 1995. "Wealth Accumulation and Housing Choices of Young Households: An Exploratory Investigation," NBER Working Papers 5070, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Xudong An & Raphael W. Bostic, 2009. "Policy incentives and the extension of mortgage credit: Increasing market discipline for subprime lending," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 340-365.
    2. David Harrison & Michael Seiler, 2015. "The Paradox of Judicial Foreclosure: Collateral Value Uncertainty and Mortgage Rates," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 377-411, April.
    3. Andrea Ferrero, 2015. "House Price Booms, Current Account Deficits, and Low Interest Rates," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(S1), pages 261-293, March.
    4. Xudong An & Raphael W. Bostic, 2006. "Have the Affordable Housing Goals been a Shield against Subprime? Regulatory Incentives and the Extension of Mortgage Credit," Working Paper 8572, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    5. Anthony Yezer & Pingkang Yu, 2016. "Costly Screening, Self-Selection, Fraud, and the Organization of Credit Markets," Working Papers 2016-4, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    6. Qianqian Cao & Shimeng Liu, 2015. "The Impact of State Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Laws on Higher-Risk Lending: Evidence from FHA and Subprime Mortgage Originations," Working Paper 9411, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    7. W. Scott Frame & Lawrence J. White, 2009. "Technological change, financial innovation, and diffusion in banking," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2009-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    8. Brent Smith, 2012. "Lending Through the Cycle: The Federal Housing Administration’s Evolving Risk in the Primary Market," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 40(3), pages 253-271, September.
    9. Neil Bhutta, 2009. "Regression discontinuity estimates of the effects of the GSE act of 1992," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2009-03, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. Jack Favilukis & David Kohn & Sydney C. Ludvigson & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2012. "International Capital Flows and House Prices: Theory and Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: Housing and the Financial Crisis, pages 235-299, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Ross Tippit, 2014. "Lender deception as a response to moral hazard," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 59-77, September.
    12. Danis, Michelle A. & Pennington-Cross, Anthony, 2008. "The delinquency of subprime mortgages," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 60(1-2), pages 67-90.
    13. Ghent, Andra C. & Hernández-Murillo, Rubén & Owyang, Michael T., 2014. "Differences in subprime loan pricing across races and neighborhoods," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 199-215.
    14. Souphala Chomsisengphet & Anthony Pennington-Cross, 2006. "The evolution of the subprime mortgage market," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 88(Jan), pages 31-56.
    15. J. Michael Collins & Carolina Reid, 2010. "Who receives a mortgage modification? Race and income differentials in loan workouts," Community Development Working Paper 2010-07, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    16. Courchane, Marsha J. & Darolia, Rajeev & Zorn, Peter M., 2014. "The downs and ups of FHA lending: The government mortgage roller coaster ride," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 39-56.
    17. Neil Bhutta, 2008. "Giving credit where credit is due? the Community Reinvestment Act and mortgage lending in lower-income neighborhoods," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2008-61, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

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