Campbell, John Y.Glaeser, EdwardChodorow-Reich, GabrielHanson, Samuel G.Reher, Michael2019-12-122019-052019-05-062019Reher, Michael. 2019. Essays on Mortgage and Housing Markets. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42029539This dissertation consists of three essays that investigate the relationship between financial intermediaries, households, and real activity. In the first chapter, Pedro Gete and I show how reductions in the supply of mortgage credit increase rent growth and lower homeownership rates. We identify the effect using geographic variation in exposure to a regulation-induced contraction in bank lending. The second chapter, also joint with Pedro Gete, shows how a regulation-induced increase in the liquidity of mortgage-backed securities lowers shadow banks' lending standards and thus raises their market share. In the third chapter, I show that greater supply of financing for residential improvement projects has increased rental housing quality during a period when quality accounts for a significant share of real rent growth. I arrive at this finding by studying two natural experiments that increase the supply of bank credit and private equity financing for residential improvement projects. A common conclusion throughout these three essays is that financial intermediaries affect households and real activity through the market for real estate financing.application/pdfenFinancial IntermediariesHousehold FinanceReal InvestmentReal EstateFinancial RegulationThesis or Dissertation2019-12-12