The Impact of Rising Mortgage Rates on Housing Demand Among Middle-Income Groups: Evidence from Chile

We present empirical evidence on the sensitivity of housing demand in Chile to changes in mortgage interest rates, focusing on units priced between CLF 2000 and 4000 (approximately USD 80,000 to 160,000). This sector, which comprises nearly two-thirds of the country’s housing supply, has experienced a significant decline in sales since 2021. Given its size and responsiveness, it represents a key target for policy measures aimed at reactivating the Chilean real estate market, such as demand-side subsidies for middle-income households. Using impulse response functions derived from vector autoregressive (VAR) and semi-structural models estimated via Bayesian methods with Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations, we find that a 100-basis-point increase in mortgage rates leads to an average annual decline of 18% in housing sales during the first quarter after the shock. This effect results in a cumulative decline of approximately 57% by the end of the first year. A comparable reduction in mortgage rates yields a symmetrical response. Finally, we offer a linear extrapolation of potential impacts under a hypothetical 200-basis-point decrease in mortgage rates.