Year Published
2004
Abstract
The residential mortgage market becomes a financial engine for the booming residential
housing development and sustained economic growth in China. Our study provides the first
rigorous empirical analysis on the earlier performance of residential mortgage market in China
based on a unique micro dataset of mortgage loan history collected from a major residential
mortgage lender in China. We found that while the option theory fails to explain prepayment and
default behavior in the residential mortgage market in China, other non-option theory related
financial economic factors play major roles in determining the prepayment and default risks in
China. We also found that borrower’s characteristics are significant in determining prepayment
behavior, hence may be used as an effective tool for screening potential high risk borrowers in the
loan origination process. Adopting a risk-based pricing in residential mortgage lending in China
can improve the efficiency of the market, and enhance the credit availability to the most needed
households, i.e., the younger households, blue-collar workers, lower income households, and help
them become homeowners.
housing development and sustained economic growth in China. Our study provides the first
rigorous empirical analysis on the earlier performance of residential mortgage market in China
based on a unique micro dataset of mortgage loan history collected from a major residential
mortgage lender in China. We found that while the option theory fails to explain prepayment and
default behavior in the residential mortgage market in China, other non-option theory related
financial economic factors play major roles in determining the prepayment and default risks in
China. We also found that borrower’s characteristics are significant in determining prepayment
behavior, hence may be used as an effective tool for screening potential high risk borrowers in the
loan origination process. Adopting a risk-based pricing in residential mortgage lending in China
can improve the efficiency of the market, and enhance the credit availability to the most needed
households, i.e., the younger households, blue-collar workers, lower income households, and help
them become homeowners.
Research Category