The last decade has brought about substantial mortgage innovation and increased refinancing. The objective of the paper … is to understand the determinants and implications of mortgage choice in the context of general equilibrium model with … incomplete markets. The equilibrium characterization allows us to study the impact of mortgage financing decisions in the …

the Maltese islands, primarily via the mortgage market. This process is characterised by (i) financial extension, in which … more households partake in mortgage finance in their entry to homeownership, and (ii) financial intensity, in which … households accumulate more debt in accessing the property market. In explaining this process, I claim, firstly, that mortgage …