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The Macro-Financial Implications of House Price-Indexed Mortgage Contracts

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  • Hull, Isaiah

    (Research Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

Abstract

A standard, no-recourse mortgage contract does not adjust when the value of the underlying collateral falls. Consequently, shocks that lower house prices may trigger one of the necessary conditions for default: negative equity. A common alternative contract attempts to prevent default by imposing full-recourse. This may cause individuals who believe they are likely to default to rent; however, it does not prevent those who buy from experiencing negative equity. I consider a contract that instead precludes negative equity by tying outstanding debt to an index of house prices. This is done in an incomplete markets model that is calibrated to match U.S. micro and macro data. I find that switching to the house price indexed contract reduces the default rate from .72% to .11% and expands homeownership rates among the young and the poor, but pushes up the equilibrium minimum mortgage rate by 90 basis points. The volatility of net cash flows to financial intermediaries also increases slightly under the new contract.

Suggested Citation

  • Hull, Isaiah, 2014. "The Macro-Financial Implications of House Price-Indexed Mortgage Contracts," Working Paper Series 287, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0287
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    File URL: http://www.riksbank.se/Documents/Rapporter/Working_papers/2014/rap_wp287_141001.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Hull, Isaiah, 2017. "Amortization requirements and household indebtedness: An application to Swedish-style mortgages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 72-88.
    2. Daniel L. Greenwald & Tim Landvoigt & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "Financial Fragility with SAM?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(2), pages 651-706, April.
    3. Anna Grodecka, 2020. "On the Effectiveness of Loan‐to‐Value Regulation in a Multiconstraint Framework," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(5), pages 1231-1270, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Default; Mortgages; Interest Rates; Heterogeneous Agents; Incomplete Markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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