On the feasibility of reverse mortgages in Colombia

Purpose The Colombian Government proposed a reverse mortgage mechanism to complement retirement income in Colombia. This paper aims to study its feasibility by valuing its premia. Design/methodology/approach Under a reverse mortgage scheme, banks issue put options on an owner’s home. To value the option, the authors apply a risk-neutral canonical approach modeling its three sources of risk: home future value, interest rate levels and homeowner life expectancy. Findings In all, premia values do not seem too high. However, if future interest rates are above the simulations or home appreciation is below its historical behavior, the premia could sharply increase, jeopardizing the system viability. Limiting the loan-to-home-value ratio or fixed-term annuities are feasible alternatives to keep premium increases at bay. Complementary mechanisms may also help. Research limitations/implications The home price and interest rate path estimation do not include inflation dynamics; in recent years inflation level was very low. However, the future does not offer any warrants. Future research also should cap the maximum loss the bank can endure. The pandemic may cause demographic changes affecting the viability of the reverse mortgage (R.M.) program in Colombia. Practical implications Based on the analysis, this work suggests possible government policies to help creditors and to maintain bank risks at a reasonable level. Social implications An adequate reverse mortgage program may help the policymakers in Colombia to face the adverse environment for Colombia’s housing market and the pressure of its pension system. A good R.M. program generates incentives to purchase homes, given the possibility of receiving an additional rent after retirement. Originality/value The paper develops an econometrical improvement over previous work. The authors present a time-series analysis that includes stationarity and co-integration information to model the data-generation process of house prices and interest rates in a multivariate fashion. The authors also improve the valuation formula. Moreover, the paper presents a novel application to Colombia. The authors obtain our demographic data from the United Nations Population Division applying the Lee-Carter method to model mortality rates, which provides ample possibilities to extend reverse mortgage assessment to additional. Finally, this is the first scholarly effort to evaluate the R.M. for the Colombian case.

Effect of Capital Conversion in the Form of a Reverse Mortgage on Benefits for Senior Citizens in Major Cities of Poland

The aging of population is a common problem in the modern economy and finance. Reverse mortgage is one of alternative ways of raising citizens’ standard of living after retiring by obtaining financial benefits accumulated in a residential property. The aim of the study is to evaluate a role of equity release service in providing additional household income for senior citizens illustrated by the case of a reverse mortgage. This type of service consists in transformation of non-liquid, tied-up in property capital into liquid financial resources. Thanks to capital conversion, senior citizens can supplement retirement benefits without a need to leave their property. The research hypothesis verified in the study stated that benefits paid as equity release in the form of a reverse mortgage provided greater support for women than for men. That hypothesis was rejected.

Asset-rich and cash-poor: which older adults value reverse mortgages?

Home equity represents a substantial share of retirement wealth for many older persons, particularly in Asia where national housing policies have encouraged home-ownership. This paper explored the potential for reverse mortgages to help ‘asset-rich and cash-poor’ older Singaporeans unlock their home equity while ageing in place. The empirical analysis was based on a nationally representative survey of home-owners age 50+ in the 2018 Singapore Life Panel (N = 6,258). Our analyses showed that the average older home-owner holds some 60 per cent of total net wealth in housing equity, suggestive of high demand potential for reverse mortgage products. Nevertheless, actual interest in such products was much below potential demand. Only one in four older home-owners indicated interest in commercial reverse mortgages if these were to become available; a larger majority had never heard of the financial product. Interest in reverse mortgages was positively associated with product awareness and self-rated product understanding. This implies that a critical step towards building consumer interest would be to enhance awareness of such products and simplify related contract terms. Having a mortgage, fewer children, financial literacy and preparedness for retirement were also positively associated with interest level. These results have implications for targeted interventions to enhance consumer awareness and spur interest in reverse mortgages, especially in ageing societies where older people have built up substantial equity through the housing market over time.

Decision analysis of the elderly participating in the housing reverse mortgage: Based on bequest motivation constraint

From the perspective of consumption preference and bequest preference, this paper constructs a financial actuarial model and studies thelifetime value change of senior citizens to participate in housing reverse mortgage(HRM). The research results are as follows: (1) The trade-off between changes in the value of consumption and inheritance is the main decision rule to participate in housing reverse mortgage(HRM), and the intensity of bequest motivation is an important constraint mechanism to the lifetime expectation value of the senior citizensparticipating in housing reverse mortgage(HRM); (2) When the bequest motivation of the elderly is relatively weak, the elderly have conversely strong consumption preference, and the elderly participating in the non-redemption HRM can obtain higher lifelong value change; (3) When the bequest motivation of the elderly is relatively strong, the elderly have correspondingly strong bequest preference. Participating in the HRM with redemption option can realize the option of retaining part of the heritage value and reduce the volatility of heritage loss. Therefore, the restriction of bequest motivation on the demand of the elderly can be reduced to a certain extent, which is more suitable for the retired residents with strong heritage motivation.