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...

This paper uses the prisoner's dilemma game to explain why the financial services industry refuses to provide financial relief to homeowners even though the failure to provide meaningful relief has exacerbated the decline in home prices and has led to more foreclosures and losses for the industry

There are more than 5 times as many 30-year mortgages than 15-year mortgages in circulation even though the 15-year mortgage interest rate is consistently lower than the 30-year mortgage interest rate. The relative popularity of longer term 30-year mortgages can be attributed both to the tax...

This paper utilizes data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to assess changes in housing equity and mortgage affordability across age groups between 1985 and 2005. The tabulations presented here indicate the share of the population with negative equity and the share of the population...