Economic Policy Review
Credit, Equity, and Mortgage Refinancings
July 1997 Volume 3, Number 2
JEL classification: G21, G13

Authors: Stavros Peristiani, Paul Bennett, Gordon Monsen, Richard Peach, and Jonathan Raiff

Using a unique loan level data set that links individual household credit ratings with property and loan characteristics, the authors test the extent to which homeowners’ credit ratings and equity affect the likelihood that mortgage loans will be refinanced as interest rates fall. Their logit model estimates strongly support the importance of both the credit and equity variables. Furthermore, the authors’ results suggest that a change in the overall lending environment over the past decade has increased the probability that a homeowner will refinance.

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