The impact of changes in market mortgage interest rates on the average mortgage interest rate for all owner-occupied homes depends on the rate of new mortgage originations. The combination of low interest rates and robust mortgage originations after 2001 led to a 1400 basis point decrease in the...

Between 2001 and 2009 there was a substantial increase in the number of households nearing retirement age with potentially unsustainable mortgage payments. Many of these households must rearrange their mortgage obligations as they enter their retirement years. Even though most homeowners nearing...