In the years preceding the Great Depression (1929–1933), home prices and outstanding mortgage debt grew substantially. Low interest rates and lax lending standards fueled widespread real estate speculation. House prices and housing construction peaked between 1925 and 1927 and then fell...

With a ratio of household debt to gross disposable income above 150%, households in Luxembourg are among the most indebted in Europe. A high level of debt exacerbates the sensitivity of household net worth to changes in house prices, which can increase the severity of economic downturns. In this...

The recent financial crisis was characterized by losses in nearly every type of investment vehicle. Yet no product has attracted as much attention as the subprime mortgage.What is generally agreed is that subprime mortgages disproportionately contributed both to the severity of the crisis and to...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored entities (GSEs) designed to facilitate a secondary market for mortgages. A secondary market makes mortgages more liquid, increasing the available pool of funds for mortgages and the willingness of originators to initiate loans. Since the supply...

Technology-based (“FinTech”) lenders increased their market share of U.S. mortgage lending from 2 percent to 8 percent from 2010 to 2016. Using market-wide, loan-level data on U.S. mortgage applications and originations, we show that FinTech lenders process mortgage applications about 20...

We describe and evaluate the measures taken by the U.S. government to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September 2008. We begin by outlining the business model of these two firms and their role in the U.S. housing finance system. Our focus then turns to the sources of financial distress that...

We describe and evaluate the measures taken by the U.S. government to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September 2008. We begin by outlining the business model of these two firms and their role in the U.S. housing finance system. Our focus then turns to the sources of financial distress that...

We describe and evaluate the measures taken by the U.S. government to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September 2008. We begin by outlining the business model of these two firms and their role in the U.S. housing finance system. Our focus then turns to the sources of financial distress that...

The study aims to investigate the criteria used by mortgage consumers in deciding their mortgage choice. To achieve the objective, questionnaires were distributed to mortgage consumers who took up mortgage between year 2007 to 2011. The results show that consumers perceived interest rate as the...

Two of the largest government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), receive government subsidies estimated to be worth $6 billion. Of that total, an estimated $2 billion goes directly as...