The mortgage spread as a predictor of real-time economic activity

Hännikäinen, Jari (2014): The mortgage spread as a predictor of real-time economic activity.

Abstract

We analyze the predictive content of the mortgage spread for U.S. economic activity. We find that the spread contains predictive power for real GDP and industrial production. Furthermore, it outperforms the term spread and Gilchrist– Zakrajsek spread in a real-time forecasting exercise. However, the predictive ability of the mortgage spread varies over time.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: mortgage spread, forecasting, real-time data
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C5 - Econometric Modeling > C53 - Forecasting and Prediction Methods ; Simulation Methods; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E3 - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles > E37 - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E4 - Money and Interest Rates > E44 - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy

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