Home equity represents a substantial share of retirement wealth for many older persons, particularly in Asia where national housing policies have encouraged home-ownership. This paper explored the potential for reverse mortgages to help ‘asset-rich and cash-poor’ older Singaporeans unlock their home equity while ageing in place. The empirical analysis was based on a nationally representative survey of home-owners age 50+ in the 2018 Singapore Life Panel (N = 6,258). Our analyses showed that the average older home-owner holds some 60 per cent of total net wealth in housing equity, suggestive of high demand potential for reverse mortgage products. Nevertheless, actual interest in such products was much below potential demand. Only one in four older home-owners indicated interest in commercial reverse mortgages if these were to become available; a larger majority had never heard of the financial product. Interest in reverse mortgages was positively associated with product awareness and self-rated product understanding. This implies that a critical step towards building consumer interest would be to enhance awareness of such products and simplify related contract terms. Having a mortgage, fewer children, financial literacy and preparedness for retirement were also positively associated with interest level. These results have implications for targeted interventions to enhance consumer awareness and spur interest in reverse mortgages, especially in ageing societies where older people have built up substantial equity through the housing market over time.

房屋净值占许多老年人退休财富的很大一部分，尤其是在国家住房政策鼓励拥有房屋的亚洲。本文探讨了反向抵押贷款的潜力，以帮助“资产丰富但现金匮乏”的新加坡年长者在老龄化期间释放他们的房屋净值。实证分析基于对 2018 年新加坡人寿小组（N = 6,258）中 50 岁以上房主的全国代表性调查。我们的分析表明，年长的房主平均持有约 60% 的住房净资产净资产，这表明反向抵押贷款产品的需求潜力很大。然而，对此类产品的实际兴趣远低于潜在需求。如果商业反向抵押贷款可用，只有四分之一的老年房主表示有兴趣；大多数人从未听说过该金融产品。对反向抵押贷款的兴趣与产品意识和自评产品理解呈正相关。这意味着建立消费者兴趣的关键一步是提高此类产品的知名度并简化相关合同条款。拥有抵押贷款、更少的孩子、金融知识和退休准备也与利率水平呈正相关。这些结果对有针对性的干预措施具有重要意义，以提高消费者意识并激发对反向抵押贷款的兴趣，特别是在老龄化社会中，随着时间的推移，老年人已经通过住房市场建立了大量资产。对反向抵押贷款的兴趣与产品意识和自评产品理解呈正相关。这意味着建立消费者兴趣的关键一步是提高此类产品的知名度并简化相关合同条款。拥有抵押贷款、更少的孩子、金融知识和退休准备也与利率水平呈正相关。这些结果对有针对性的干预措施具有重要意义，以提高消费者意识并激发对反向抵押贷款的兴趣，特别是在老龄化社会中，随着时间的推移，老年人已经通过住房市场建立了大量资产。对反向抵押贷款的兴趣与产品意识和自评产品理解呈正相关。这意味着建立消费者兴趣的关键一步是提高此类产品的知名度并简化相关合同条款。拥有抵押贷款、更少的孩子、金融知识和退休准备也与利率水平呈正相关。这些结果对有针对性的干预措施具有重要意义，以提高消费者意识并激发对反向抵押贷款的兴趣，特别是在老龄化社会中，随着时间的推移，老年人已经通过住房市场建立了大量资产。拥有抵押贷款、更少的孩子、金融知识和退休准备也与利率水平呈正相关。这些结果对有针对性的干预措施具有重要意义，以提高消费者意识并激发对反向抵押贷款的兴趣，特别是在老龄化社会中，随着时间的推移，老年人已经通过住房市场建立了大量资产。拥有抵押贷款、更少的孩子、金融知识和退休准备也与利率水平呈正相关。这些结果对有针对性的干预措施具有重要意义，以提高消费者意识并激发对反向抵押贷款的兴趣，特别是在老龄化社会中，随着时间的推移，老年人已经通过住房市场建立了大量资产。