Stabilizing the System of Mortgage Finance in the United States
32 Pages Posted: 5 Sep 2017
Date Written: August 2017
Abstract
It has been over a decade since the peak of house prices in the US was attained, and while there has been a concerted regulatory response to the subsequent collapse, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) remain in conservatorship. While this action served to forestall a deeper crisis at the time, over the past several years risks related to the system of mortgage finance can be seen building across several dimensions that need to be addressed. While reforms to the GSEs are an important part of dealing with these concerns, this paper argues that broader changes need to be made across the entire mortgage landscape to stabilize the system, even before the final state of the GSEs is fully determined.
Keywords: Housing, Western Hemisphere, United States, Capital Markets, Housing Demand, Housing Supply and Markets, Government Policy and Regulation
JEL Classification: R21, R31, G21, G28, G38
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation