In this paper, I study how mortgage refinancing influences the interest rate pass-through to household budgets via fixed-rate mortgage contracts in Denmark. I develop a model based on a state-dependent process of household actions that endogenously determines household refinancing decisions as a...

Using a novel database that combines mortgage servicing records, credit-bureau data, and loan application information, we show that lower-income and minority borrowers have significantly higher nonpayment rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, even after controlling for conventional risk factors....

We review the recent literature on the determinants and effects of housing market expectations. We begin by providing an overview of existing surveys that elicit housing market expectations, and discuss how those surveys may be expanded in the future. We then document a number of facts about...

Households reduce consumption following negative shocks to their stock holdings. Households also lower consumption following exogenous increases in mortgage debt payments. But what is the impact of simultaneous adverse shocks in both markets, such as in the 2008 financial crisis? Using detailed...

We study the relationship between the labor market for loan officers and access to credit in the residential mortgage market. Using novel data matching the (near) universe of mortgage applications to loan officers, we find that minorities are significantly underrepresented among mortgage loan...

Evidence from a range of countries reveals that household inaction in mortgage refinancing can be pervasive despite financial incentives to take action. Inactive households may implicitly cross-subsidize active households, allowing competitive lenders to set lower average mortgage rates. To...

This paper examines changes in the redefault rate of mortgages that were selected for modification during 2008-2011, compared with that of similarly situated self-cured mortgages. We find a large decline in the redefault rate of both modified and self-cured mortgages over this period, but the...

This paper examines changes in the redefault rate of mortgages that were selected for modification during 2008–2011, compared with that of similarly situated self-cured mortgages during the same period. We find that while the performance of both modified and self-cured loans improved...

The substantial costs of foreclosures to individuals and society motivated nearly $40 billion in government subsidies to homeowners during the Great Recession. Most of these subsidies were in the form of permanent loan modifications with mixed evidence of effectiveness. This paper estimates the...

We examine whether beliefs about climate change affect loan officers' mortgage lending decisions. We show that abnormally high local temperature leads to elevated attention to and belief in climate change in a region. Loan officers approve fewer mortgage applications and originate lower amount...