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Mortgage Choice in the Euro Area: Macroeconomic Determinants and the Effect of Monetary Policy on Debt Burdens
Author(s) -
EHRMANN MICHAEL,
ZIEGELMEYER MICHAEL
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of money, credit and banking
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.763
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1538-4616
pISSN - 0022-2879
DOI - 10.1111/jmcb.12386
Subject(s) - economics , interest rate , debt , monetary economics , floating interest rate , monetary policy , unemployment , volatility (finance) , household debt , macroeconomics , finance
This paper provides novel evidence on the role of the macroeconomic environment for households’ choice between fixed‐interest‐rate and adjustable‐interest‐rate mortgages (ARMs) in the euro area. We find that relatively more ARMs are taken out when economic growth is strong, the interest rate spread is high, or unemployment shows low volatility. A simulation exercise shows that a reduction in mortgage rates as witnessed during the monetary easing in the course of the global financial crisis produces a substantial decline in debt burdens among mortgage‐holding households, especially in countries where households have higher debt burdens and a larger share of ARMs.