We expand the debate on incentives embedded in the originate-to-distribute lending model by presenting evidence on the placement of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) with mutual funds. We do so by capitalizing on a unique testing platform encompassing institutional holdings of private-label MBS...

The desire of risk-averse households to hedge rent risk is thought to increase home ownership and prices. While evidence for the ownership implication is compelling, support for the price effect is mixed. We show that an important reason is search frictions. Rent risk reduces outside options,...

We expand the debate on incentives embedded in the originate-to-distribute lending model by presenting evidence on the placement of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) with mutual funds. We do so by capitalizing on a unique testing platform encompassing institutional holdings of private-label MBS...

A feature of last decade’s mortgage crisis was that the credit risk of borrowers was not accurately priced into their mortgages. For example, the increased risk of delinquency was not associated with a higher interest rate. I confirm this belief by using a measure of earnings risk, a major...

This paper shows that macroeconomic uncertainty affects the housing market in two significant ways. First, uncertainty shocks adversely a¤ect housing prices but not the quantities that are traded. Controlling for a broad set of variables in fixed-effects regressions, we find that uncertainty...