Asymmetric Price Adjustment in the Dutch Mortgage Market

We analyze the mortgage interest rate setting behavior of the four largest banks in the Dutch mortgage market using advertised interest rates at a daily frequency from October 1997 to July 2003. We find that the pass-through of funding cost changes into mortgage interest rates on 5 and 10 year loans differs among these banks. Further, there is evidence of asymmetric price adjustment, in the sense that funding cost increases are more quickly passed on than decreases.