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Paying Too Much? Borrower Sophistication and Overpayment in the US Mortgage Market

Author

Listed:
  • Neil Bhutta

    (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia)

  • Andreas Fuster

    (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Swiss Finance Institute; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR))

  • Aurel Hizmo

    (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System)

Abstract

Comparing mortgage rates that borrowers obtain to rates that lenders could offer for the same loan, we find that many homeowners significantly overpay for their mortgage, with overpayment varying across borrower types and with market interest rates. Survey data reveal that borrowers' mortgage knowledge and shopping behavior strongly correlate with the rates they secure. We also document substantial variation in how expensive and profitable lenders are, without any evidence that expensive loans are associated with a better borrower experience. Despite many lenders operating in the US mortgage market, limited borrower sophistication may provide lenders with market power.

Suggested Citation

  • Neil Bhutta & Andreas Fuster & Aurel Hizmo, 2024. "Paying Too Much? Borrower Sophistication and Overpayment in the US Mortgage Market," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 24-21, Swiss Finance Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2421
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    Cited by:

    1. Bartlett, Robert & Morse, Adair & Stanton, Richard & Wallace, Nancy, 2022. "Consumer-lending discrimination in the FinTech Era," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 30-56.
    2. Mateusz Myśliwski & May Rostom, 2022. "Value of information, search, and competition in the UK mortgage market," Bank of England working papers 967, Bank of England.
    3. Steven Malliaris & Daniel A. Rettl & Ruchi Singh, 2022. "Is competition a cure for confusion? Evidence from the residential mortgage market," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(1), pages 206-246, March.
    4. Sumit Agarwal & Yongheng Deng & Jia He & Yonglin Wang & Qi Zhang, 2023. "Lenders’ pricing strategy: Do neighborhood risks matter?," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(4), pages 1011-1047, July.
    5. Marta Cota & Ante Sterc, 2024. "Financial Skills and Search in the Mortgage Market," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp780, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    6. Allison Nicoletti & Christina Zhu, 2023. "Economic Consequences of Transparency Regulation: Evidence from Bank Mortgage Lending," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 61(5), pages 1827-1871, December.
    7. Mark Egan & Shan Ge & Johnny Tang, 2022. "Conflicting Interests and the Effect of Fiduciary Duty: Evidence from Variable Annuities," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(12), pages 5334-5386.
    8. Natee Amornsiripanitch & Judith Ricks, 2025. "Incomplete Pass-Through in Mortgage Markets," Working Papers 25-30, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    9. Natee Amornsiripanitch, 2023. "The Age Gap in Mortgage Access," Working Papers 23-03, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    10. Ge Gao & Alex Nikolsko‐Rzhevskyy & Oleksandr Talavera, 2023. "Can central banks be heard over the sound of gunfire?," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 46(S1), pages 183-203, December.
    11. Madeira, Carlos, 2021. "The potential impact of financial portability measures on mortgage refinancing: Evidence from Chile," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    12. Hadi Elzayn & Simon Freyaldenhoven & Minchul Shin, 2025. "Precision Without Labels: Detecting Cross-Applicants in Mortgage Data Using Unsupervised Learning," Working Papers 25-25, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    13. Chung, Sol & Agnew, Julie & Bateman, Hazel & Eckert, Christine & Liu, Junhao & Thorp, Susan, 2024. "The impact of mortgage broker use on borrower confusion and preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 229-247.
    14. Duc Duy Nguyen & Steven Ongena & Shusen Qi & Vathunyoo Sila, 2022. "Climate Change Risk and the Cost of Mortgage Credit [Does climate change affect real estate prices? Only if you believe in it]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(6), pages 1509-1549.
    15. Sebastian Doerr & Andreas Fuster, 2025. "Affordable housing, unaffordable credit? Concentration and high-cost lending for manufactured homes," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 25-28, Swiss Finance Institute.
    16. Phoebe Tian & Chen Zheng, 2024. "Unintended Consequences of the Home Affordable Refinance Program," Staff Working Papers 24-11, Bank of Canada.
    17. Luis Arturo Lopez & Shawn J. McCoy & Vivek Sah, 2022. "Steering consumers to lenders in residential real estate markets," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(6), pages 1596-1641, November.
    18. Guiso, Luigi & Pozzi, Andrea & Tsoy, Anton & Gambacorta, Leonardo & Mistrulli, Paolo Emilio, 2022. "The cost of steering in financial markets: Evidence from the mortgage market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(3), pages 1209-1226.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects

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