The Impacts of Borrowing Constraints on Homeownership |
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Authors: | Peter Linneman Susan Wachter |
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Affiliation: | Real Estate Center, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104. |
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Abstract: | This paper utilizes microdata to directly quantify the impact of mortgage underwriting criteria on individual homeownership propensities. To determine whether a family is constrained by these criteria, the optimal home purchase price is estimated. The results indicate that wealth and income constraints both reduce homeownership propensities, with a stronger impact for wealth constraints. Mortgage market innovations of the early 1980s seem to have reduced these effects. The research indicates, however, that even in well-developed capital markets, the presence of borrowing constraints adversely affects homeownership propensities. |
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