International funding cost and heterogeneous mortgage interest-rate pass-through: a bank-level analysis

Abstract

This study examines the transmission of the cost-of-funds rates, domestically and internationally, to owner-occupied housing interest rates at the bank level for the period 2002(7)–2015(12) in Australia. Three main issues, cross-sectional dependence, parameter heterogeneity, and asymmetry, have been considered using the linear and nonlinear common-factor Augmented Mean Group estimators. Significant unobservable coefficients in all estimates ascertain that unobserved common factors arising from both national and global shocks have a significant influence on mortgage rate transmission. The results of sizable heterogeneity and asymmetry, found in all estimates while controlling for cross-sectional correlations, highlight the substantial effect of the foreign-funds rate on long-run mortgage price setting. We find a closer connection between mortgage interest rates and international funding cost; we have also confirmed a declining transmission of the policy rate after the 2008 global financial crisis.