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Aging in place, housing maintenance and reverse mortgages

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  • Cocco, Joao F.
  • Lopes, Paula

Abstract

We study the role of housing wealth in financing retirement consumption. In our model retirees: 1. derive utility benefits from remaining in their home (aging in place); and 2. choose in each period whether to maintain their house. The evidence that we present shows that these features are important in explaining the saving decisions of the elderly. The costs and the maintenance requirement of reverse mortgages (RMs) reduce (or eliminate) the benefits of the loans for retirees who wish to do less maintenance. We evaluate the impact of different loan features on retirees’ utility, cash-flows to lenders, and to the government agency that provides mortgage insurance. We show that combining RMs with insurance against a forced home sale (e.g. due to a move to a nursing home) is Pareto improving and can lead to increased demand for the loans due to product complementarities.

Suggested Citation

  • Cocco, Joao F. & Lopes, Paula, 2019. "Aging in place, housing maintenance and reverse mortgages," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100835, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:100835
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/100835/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ismael Choinière-Crèvecoeur & Pierre-Carl Michaud, 2023. "Reverse Mortgages and Financial Literacy," CIRANO Working Papers 2023s-06, CIRANO.
    2. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones & Rory McGee & Rachel Rodgers, 2020. "Medical Spending, Bequests, and Asset Dynamics around the Time of Death," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 4, pages 135-157.
    3. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Mitrou, Francis & Zubrick, Stephen R., 2024. "Retirement, housing mobility, downsizing and neighbourhood quality - A causal investigation," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Michaelides, Alexander & Zhang, Yuxin, 2022. "Life-cycle portfolio choice with imperfect predictors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Retirement; Housing wealth; precautionary savings; Aging in place; Property maintenance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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