Over the past decade or so, aggregate data suggest a trend increase in housing equity withdrawal in Australia, potentially stimulating household spending. However, there has been little disaggregated information on how equity is being withdrawn and injected, the characteristics of households...

The increase in housing equity withdrawal and coincident decline in aggregate savings rates in a number of countries in recent years is consistent with the consumption-smoothing model of housing equity withdrawal. However, there are a variety of other theoretical models that purport to explain...