Real assets, represented by residential properties, hold about half of the tangible capital in developed countries. Consequently, mortgage market, which assigns the market for financing real assets, is a key component of the financial market. Because of this importance, the mortgage market’s efficiency is considered to be a key factor of the financial market’s efficiency. In particular, a weak functioning of the former is believed „to pollute” other components of financial market. The article is meant to emphasize, for the euro area, those institutional characteristics that maintain the national mortgage markets’ heterogeneity. In this way, we have identified the presence of heterogeneity both in terms of mortgage products features (essential from the viewpoint of mortgage market integration) and of consumers preferences (influenced mainly by demographic factors). Also, we question about the possible implications of mortgage market’s expansion to the monetary policy and financial stability.

mortgage products, mortgage debt, institutional heterogeneity, financial integration