11/27/2025. What's Up With 50-Year Mortgages?
- George Zhuang
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 8 hours ago
Following surprisingly decisive losses in recent elections including the Governorships of New Jersey, Virginia and Mayoralty of New York City, the Trump Administration has taken a new look at the affordability issue and has been apparently keen to establish its authority in this highly contentious area of public policy as well.
While the true costs and benefits of the new American trade regime and deregulatory push are still yet to become fully clear to American taxpayers, already there appears to be widespread discontent and concern amongst the general voting public that the Trump Administration's policies, especially trade policy including targeted and reciprocal tariffs, are driving prices in an unsustainable upward trajectory. In response, the Administration has been doubling and tripling down on its affordability message.
In addition to taking steps such as rolling back some tariffs on agricultural goods including "coffee and tea; tropical fruits and fruit juices; cocoa and spices; bananas, oranges, and tomatoes; beef" to ease price pressures, extraordinary mortgage reforms are being discussed in an attempt to increase geographic mobility and access to home purchases.
These extraordinary reforms include the 50-year mortgage, portable mortgages, and crypto-backed mortgages. I've included a link to the Realtor.com article by Allaire Conte for more detailed information on the topic. However, summarize for you very succinctly, none of these reforms are likely to ease the home affordability issue without a corresponding boost in housing supply.
In 50-year mortgages, you may lower your payments significantly, but this comes at a cost of building significantly less equity early on while paying significantly more interest. Using Realtor.com's example and amortization schedule, a "$400,000 home with 10% down at today’s 6.25% 30-year rate, a 50-year mortgage would trim roughly $250 per month off the payment ... But ... Over the lifetime of the loan, a 50-year borrower would pay $816,396 in interest, compared with $438,156 on a 30-year mortgage—a difference of $378,240, or 86% more interest overall." That's almost double the interest over the life of the loan!
Portable mortgages are a better idea, allowing borrowers to take their low rates with them when they move to a presumably larger or more expensive property. Ignoring the fact that mortgages are currently tied to homes and many are bundled and sold as mortgage-backed securities, this reform would do nothing to increase housing supply and would instead benefit a very select number of borrowers lucky enough to finance or refinance in a low-rate environment, while those that do not currently have the means to borrow may be effectively locked out of these benefits until a time when rates may not be as favorable.
Finally, crypto-backed mortgages, possibly the worst idea of them all. Although cryptocurrencies have become a bit more mainstream in high finance, these are still highly speculative and volatile assets, as shown by the steep dive taken by the cryptocurrency sector, which has shaved off over $1.0 trillion in market value in less than two months. Allowing cryptocurrencies to be used to purchase houses can potentially cause catastrophic losses and bank closures if not managed properly. And in today's greedy market and new era of deregulation with caution seemingly in the wind, this reform would not be the most prudent or beneficial to American consumers.
Though none of these ideas may ever see implementation, it's important to note that depending on how your finances are situated and you current living situation, it may be a good idea to keep track of mortgage market reforms that you may be able to take advantage of regardless of housing supply. Work with your financial advisor to determine whether it is a good idea to take advantage of any changes in real estate markets.
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