Motivations for Equity Borrowing: A Welfare-switching Effect

During the early 2000s, mortgage market innovation together with home price appreciation increased the scope for mortgage equity withdrawal. From a macroeconomic perspective, this proved to be an important transmission mechanism for the wealth (particularly collateral) effects of housing. Microecono...

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Main Authors: Wood, Gavin, Parkinson, S., Searle, B., Smith, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32526
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author Wood, Gavin
Parkinson, S.
Searle, B.
Smith, S.
author_facet Wood, Gavin
Parkinson, S.
Searle, B.
Smith, S.
author_sort Wood, Gavin
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description During the early 2000s, mortgage market innovation together with home price appreciation increased the scope for mortgage equity withdrawal. From a macroeconomic perspective, this proved to be an important transmission mechanism for the wealth (particularly collateral) effects of housing. Microeconomic accounts of equity borrowing are less well developed, since standard models of savings and consumption rarely take housing wealth into account. This paper, however, builds on a small but growing literature assigning a precautionary savings role to consumption from housing wealth. The analysis uses panel data sourced from Britain and Australia to model households’ motivations for equity borrowing. Key among these motivations are pressing, uninsurable, ostensibly short-term, spending needs. In these contexts, it is proposed that equity borrowing assumes a welfare-switching role, substituting privately owned housing wealth for collectively funded safety-nets.
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format Journal Article
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T08:28:29Z
publishDate 2013
publisher Hindawi Publishing Corporation
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-325262018-03-29T09:08:13Z Motivations for Equity Borrowing: A Welfare-switching Effect Wood, Gavin Parkinson, S. Searle, B. Smith, S. During the early 2000s, mortgage market innovation together with home price appreciation increased the scope for mortgage equity withdrawal. From a macroeconomic perspective, this proved to be an important transmission mechanism for the wealth (particularly collateral) effects of housing. Microeconomic accounts of equity borrowing are less well developed, since standard models of savings and consumption rarely take housing wealth into account. This paper, however, builds on a small but growing literature assigning a precautionary savings role to consumption from housing wealth. The analysis uses panel data sourced from Britain and Australia to model households’ motivations for equity borrowing. Key among these motivations are pressing, uninsurable, ostensibly short-term, spending needs. In these contexts, it is proposed that equity borrowing assumes a welfare-switching role, substituting privately owned housing wealth for collectively funded safety-nets. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32526 10.1177/0042098013477706 Hindawi Publishing Corporation restricted
spellingShingle Wood, Gavin
Parkinson, S.
Searle, B.
Smith, S.
Motivations for Equity Borrowing: A Welfare-switching Effect
title Motivations for Equity Borrowing: A Welfare-switching Effect
title_full Motivations for Equity Borrowing: A Welfare-switching Effect
title_fullStr Motivations for Equity Borrowing: A Welfare-switching Effect
title_full_unstemmed Motivations for Equity Borrowing: A Welfare-switching Effect
title_short Motivations for Equity Borrowing: A Welfare-switching Effect
title_sort motivations for equity borrowing: a welfare-switching effect
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32526