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Abstract

Interest-only (IO) and principal-only (PO) mortgage strips are valued in a stochastic interest-rate environment. The prepayment rate of the underlying mortgages is affected by two considerations not present in the ldquopurerdquo financially rational model: (1) The property owner's holding period is assumed to follow a Gamma distribution, resulting in the possibility of prepayment due to the sale of the property (i.e., prepayment that is ldquotoo earlyrdquo based on market interest rates); and (2) borrowers are assumed to face heterogeneous transaction costs related to refinancing the existing mortgage, and delay refinancing when market conditions make it optimal to do so (refinancing ldquotoo laterdquo). Properties of IO/PO strips are identified by the finite difference method.

Key words  interest-only strips - principal-only strips - mortgage-backed securities - pricing model

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