European mortgage markets: what can we learn? - Hypsotech ...

Introduction
This study gives an overview of several European mortgage markets and discusses
observations within those markets from the perspective of the Dutch mortgage
market. With this study we want to contribute to raise the knowledge level of
mortgage professionals within the Netherlands with regard to European mortgage
markets. We further hope this study will stimulate the exploration of opportunities,
that are based on experiences and lessons learnt from other markets.
Keeping these aims in mind, we have selected a number of markets for this study that are geographically
close to the Netherlands and contain interesting aspects. We selected the following countries:
• The United Kingdom
• Belgium
• Germany
• Denmark
• Sweden
For each of these countries, the following aspects are analyzed:
• Product range
• Distribution
• Mortgage processing
As there already have been numerous studies on the European markets, this research does not aim
to hand a holistic view of all markets. This study however, looks at the European market from the
perspective of the Dutch market in order to identify interesting observations.
To start with, the Dutch mortgage market is assessed focussing on the three aspects formulated
above, supplemented with a short description. For the other mortgage markets contained in this
study a similar format is used. Flowing from this, the observations in each market are analyzed and
discussed in perspective of the Dutch market. This study ends with some final thoughts and conclusions.
It has to be stressed that the observations are made in respect of the Dutch mortgage market solely.
The idea is to learn from other markets without the aim to enter these markets for the players
present in the Netherlands.
In addition to the above, it has to be noted that the ‘Merrill Lynch Guide to International Mortgage
markets and Mortgage Backed Securities’ (2003) has been used often as data source in the completion
of this research. Besides this source, also the publications ‘Risk and Funding in European
Residential Mortgages: Responding to Changes in Mortgage Demand’ (2005) and ‘Study on the
Financial Integration of European Mortgage Markets’ (2003) by Mercer Oliver Wyman are used
as references.
3