Abstract

In this paper, we explore how refinancing influences subsequent housing outcomes for financially vulnerable homeowners, including overcrowding, homeownership sustainability, and residential mobility. Drawing on a unique dataset of refinance applicants to the Startlån mortgage programme in Norway, we model these housing outcomes as a function of being approved for mortgage refinancing and a wide range of demographic, socioeconomic, and housing characteristics matched from various public registries, as well as local housing market characteristics. We test, and where appropriate, control for endogeneity in the refinance mortgage approval decision using endogenous treatment modelling. We find a strong positive effect of refinancing: approved mortgage applicants have a 13 percentage points higher probability of sustaining homeownership compared to declined applicants. Refinancing also decreases the number of post-application moves by about a third, and increases the amount of living space available. Our results demonstrate the benefits of access to prime rate refinancing as a tool to stabilise housing careers for lower-income homeowners.

摘要

在本文中，我们探讨了再融资如何影响财务脆弱的房主随后的住房结果，包括过度拥挤、房屋所有权的可持续性和住宅流动性。利用挪威 Startlån 抵押贷款计划再融资申请人的独特数据集，我们将这些住房结果建模为抵押贷款再融资获批的函数，以及与各种公共登记处相匹配的各种人口统计、社会经济和住房特征，以及由于当地住房市场的特点。我们使用内生处理模型测试并在适当的情况下控制再融资抵押贷款批准决策中的内生性。我们发现再融资有很强的积极影响：与被拒绝的申请人相比，获得批准的抵押贷款申请人维持房屋所有权的可能性高 13 个百分点。再融资还将申请后搬家的次数减少了大约三分之一，并增加了可用的居住空间。我们的结果证明了将最优惠利率再融资作为稳定低收入房主住房职业的工具的好处。