Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/298834 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Citation: 
[Journal:] Credit and Capital Markets – Kredit und Kapital [ISSN:] 2199-1235 [Volume:] 56 [Issue:] 2 [Year:] 2023 [Pages:] 145-195
Publisher: 
Duncker & Humblot, Berlin
Abstract: 
Using several different datasets obtained from the German Central Bank (Deutsche Bundesbank) and the German Federal Statistical Office, we provide empirical evidence that savings and loan contracts (SLCs) are a macrosocial phenomenon that smooths housing demand by setting countercyclical incentive structures. Such contracts can thus serve theoretically as important stabilizers of housing (loan) demand. This idiosyncratic characteristic of the German real estate finance market, provided by German building societies ("Bausparkassen"), may also explain the notorious stability of the country's housing market. The significant macroeconomic importance of housing market stability has been prominently highlighted in the context of the 2007/2008 financial crisis, which was triggered by the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market. This research is particularly relevant for countries that experienced fragile housing markets with a high level of cyclicality in demand and nominal house prices.
Subjects: 
Real estate finance
financial intermediation
housing markets
financial stability
mortgage financing
building societies
savings and loan contracts
JEL: 
E21
E43
E44
G21
G28
R21
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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