Capital Requirements, Mortgage Rates and House Prices

Abstract

We study the effect of an increase in capital requirements for residential mortgages on mortgage rates and house prices. We exploit a unique quasi-experiment in which affected banks faced an increase in risk weights of five percentage points. Using a difference-in-difference estimator we find that treated banks increase their mortgage rates by 18 basis points. Houses near affected banks have a 2.34% lower sale price after the increase in capital requirements. Our results imply a semi-elasticity of house prices to changes in mortgage rates of 13, in line with predictions from a user cost model.