Fixed rate versus adjustable rate mortgages: evidence from euro area banks

Ugo Albertazzi, Fulvia Fringuellotti and Steven Ongena

No 1176, Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: Why do some residential mortgages carry a fixed interest rate and others an adjustable rate? To answer this question we studied unique data from 103 banks belonging to 73 different banking groups across twelve countries in the euro area. To explain the large cross-country and time variations observed, we distinguished between the conditions that determine the local demand for credit and the characteristics of banks that supply credit. As bank funding mostly occurs at the group level, we disentangled these two sets of factors by comparing the outcomes observed for the same banking group across the different countries. Local demand conditions dominate. In particular we find that the share of new loans with a fixed rate is larger when: (1) the historical volatility of inflation is lower, (2) the correlation between unemployment and the short-term interest rate is higher, (3) households' financial literacy is lower, and (4) the use of local mortgages to back covered bonds and of mortgage-backed securities is more widespread.

Keywords: mortgages; financial duration; cross-border banks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F23 G21 G41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban, nep-eec, nep-fle and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Fixed rate versus adjustable rate mortgages: Evidence from euro area banks (2024)
Working Paper: Fixed Rate versus Adjustable Rate Mortgages: Evidence from Euro Area Banks (2020)
Working Paper: Fixed rate versus adjustable rate mortgages: evidence from euro area banks (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1176_18

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