Using several large data sets of mortgage loans originated between 2004 and 2007, we find that in the prime mortgage market, banks generally sold low-default-risk loans into the secondary market while retaining higher-default-risk loans in their portfolios. In contrast, these lenders retained...

Lenders' access to soft information on appraisal inflation could lead to adverse selection in private mortgage securitization. Combining a nationwide mortgage data with a real estate transaction data and using a difference-in-differences empirical design, we document that securitized refinance...