{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42216"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42216","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The effect of interest rates on the demand for mortgage credit in South Africa","abstract":"This paper uses novel and detailed mortgage origination data to estimate the interest rate elasticity of mortgage demand along the intensive margin in South Africa. I find that homebuyers increase the size of the mortgage they take out by 2.8 percent in response to a 1 percentage point decrease in the prime interest rate. Additionally, I explore the effect on housing demand since homebuyers may adjust their housing preferences when interest rates change. I find that homebuyers purchase 2.3 percent more expensive properties. The resultant impact on the degree of mortgage leverage is economically small. These findings have implications for monetary policy transmission in the housing market and financial stability more generally.","abstract_html":"This paper uses novel and detailed mortgage origination data to estimate the interest rate elasticity of mortgage demand along the intensive margin in South Africa. I find that homebuyers increase the size of the mortgage they take out by 2.8 percent in response to a 1 percentage point decrease in the prime interest rate. Additionally, I explore the effect on housing demand since homebuyers may adjust their housing preferences when interest rates change. I find that homebuyers purchase 2.3 percent more expensive properties. The resultant impact on the degree of mortgage leverage is economically small. These findings have implications for monetary policy transmission in the housing market and financial stability more generally.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Earl, Gemma"],"institution":"School of Economics","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Davids, Allan"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025","date_published":"2025","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:30Z","subjects":["South Africa","Mortgage Credit"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42216","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Davids, Allan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Earl, Gemma"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-11-13T11:40:10Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-11-13T11:40:10Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["School of Economics"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis / Dissertation"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters","MCom"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["South Africa","Mortgage Credit"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42216"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This paper uses novel and detailed mortgage origination data to estimate the interest rate elasticity of mortgage demand along the intensive margin in South Africa. I find that homebuyers increase the size of the mortgage they take out by 2.8 percent in response to a 1 percentage point decrease in the prime interest rate. Additionally, I explore the effect on housing demand since homebuyers may adjust their housing preferences when interest rates change. I find that homebuyers purchase 2.3 percent more expensive properties. The resultant impact on the degree of mortgage leverage is economically small. These findings have implications for monetary policy transmission in the housing market and financial stability more generally."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The effect of interest rates on the demand for mortgage credit in South Africa"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Davids, Allan"],"dc:creator":["Earl, Gemma"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-11-13T11:40:10Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-11-13T11:40:10Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025"],"dc:description.abstract":["This paper uses novel and detailed mortgage origination data to estimate the interest rate elasticity of mortgage demand along the intensive margin in South Africa. I find that homebuyers increase the size of the mortgage they take out by 2.8 percent in response to a 1 percentage point decrease in the prime interest rate. Additionally, I explore the effect on housing demand since homebuyers may adjust their housing preferences when interest rates change. I find that homebuyers purchase 2.3 percent more expensive properties. The resultant impact on the degree of mortgage leverage is economically small. These findings have implications for monetary policy transmission in the housing market and financial stability more generally."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42216"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher.department":["School of Economics"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:subject":["South Africa","Mortgage Credit"],"dc:title":["The effect of interest rates on the demand for mortgage credit in South Africa"],"dc:type":["Thesis / Dissertation"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters","MCom"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:30Z"}