Real Estate Notes: Aging and the Mortgage Crisis

Abstract

Between 2001 and 2009 there was a substantial increase in the number of households nearing retirement age with potentially unsustainable mortgage payments. Many of these households must rearrange their mortgage obligations as they enter their retirement years. Even though most homeowners nearing retirement age have a zero or reasonable mortgage obligation an increase in the number of homeowners who need to alter their housing arrangements could exert downward pressure on real estate prices and prolong and exacerbate the current mortgage crisis.

Keywords: mortgages, housing, aging, demographics

JEL Classification: L81, R21, G21, J11, J14