Credit Scoring and Mortgage Securitization: Implications for Mortgage Rates and Credit Availability December 21, 2000 Andrea Heuson Associate Professor of Finance University of Miami Box 248094 Coral Gables, FL 33134
[email protected] (305) 284-1866 Office (305) 284-4800 Fax Wayne Passmore Assistant Director Federal Reserve Board Mail Stop 93 Washington, DC 20551
[email protected] (202) 452-6432 Office (202) 452-3819 Fax Roger Sparks Associate Professor of Economics Mills College 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland, CA 94613-1399
[email protected] (510) 430-2137 Office (510) 430-2304 Fax We wish to thank Steve Oliner, David Pearl, Tim Riddiough, Robert Van Order, Stanley Longhofer, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on previous drafts of this paper. We take responsibility for all errors. 2 Credit Scoring and Mortgage Securitization: Implications for Mortgage Rates and Credit Availability Abstract This paper develops a model of the interactions between borrowers, originators, and a securitizer in primary and secondary mortgage markets. In the secondary market, the securitizer adds liquidity and plays a strategic game with mortgage originators. The securitizer sets the price at which it will purchase mortgages and the credit-score standard that qualifies a mortgage for purchase. We investigate two potential links between securitization and mortgage rates. First, we analyze whether a portion of the liquidity premium gets passed on to borrowers in the form of a lower mortgage rate. Somewhat surprisingly, we find very plausible conditions under which securitization fails to lower the mortgage rate. Second, and consistent with recent empirical results, we derive an inverse correlation between the volume of securitization and mortgage rates.