Dynamic Analysis of Defaults and Prepayments in the Turkish Mortgage Market

Abstract

We analyze the determinants of default and prepayment in the Turkish mortgage market by utilizing data obtained from a large commercial bank. Our main findings suggest that default is positively affected by a high loan to value ratio and term length of mortgages, and negatively affected by certain quantitative easing periods, good expectations regarding the future, the ratio of real house prices to the size of the economy and mortgage customer's high school and above level of education and being married. The probability of prepayment rises with the increase in variables such as the gain ratio due to prepayment, high school and above level of education of the mortgage customer, size of the GDP and the ratio of real house prices to GDP. We also find that the likelihoods of both the cases of default and prepayment are locally maximized when nearly 60% of the term is reached.