We study the effect of gender in a new financial behavior context: the choice of a mortgage. While adjustable rate mortgages are initially cheaper, they expose the borrower to interest rate risk. Using national lender data, we find that propensity to apply for an adjustable rate mortgage among...

Our study focuses on whether mortgage prices for Hispanic borrowers in areas of limited English fluency depend on the broker's ethnicity. While we find that Hispanic borrowers in areas where the majority of Hispanics are not fluent in English pay higher prices overall, mortgage prices are lower...

Theories of rational redlining suggest a low housing sales volume should lead to greater uncertainty in house price appraisals, making the mortgage loan riskier, less attractive to lenders, and consequently more likely to be denied or charged a higher price. Previous empirical tests of this...

Theories of rational redlining suggest thinness in housing markets should lead to greater uncertainty in house price appraisals, increasing mortgage denial rates or pricing. Empirical tests found support for this theory in mortgage underwriting using 1990s data. Using 2006 data and bank-specific...