The dominant explanation for the meltdown in the US subprime mortgage market is that lending standards dramatically weakened after 2004. Using loan-level data, we examine underwriting standards on the subprime mortgage originations from 1998 to 2007. Contrary to popular belief, we find no...

This paper demonstrates that the reason for widespread default of mortgages in the subprime market was a sudden reversal in the house price appreciation of the early 2000's. Using loan-level data on subprime mortgages, we observe that the majority of subprime loans were hybrid adjustable rate...

How did poor underwriting bring about the collapse of the subprime mortgage market? More importantly, how would subprime mortgages perform if underwriting standards did not deteriorate?

In this paper we conduct an empirical investigation of how neighborhood mortgage adoption contagion affects mortgage product choice, with an emphasis on Hispanic borrowers. We use loan-level mortgage data for metropolitan areas in California and Florida during 2004 and 2005, the peak years of...

Although similar in many ways, subprime hybrids were really different from prime hybrids.

This study presents a brief overview of the Alt-A mortgage market with the goal of outlining broad trends in the different borrower and mortgage characteristics of Alt-A market originations between 2000 and 2006. The paper also documents the default patterns of Alt-A mortgages in terms of the...

Hybrid adjustable rate mortgages (HARM) were designed to be refinanced by the reset date, when the interest rate would jump. These mortgages worked out well for many people who were credit risks - but only as long as housing prices continued to rise.