Trump Floats 50-Year Mortgages, Not Why Housing's Unaffordable
The Independent details Donald Trump's speculative plan to offer 50-year mortgages, presenting it as a novel approach to 'shake-up' the housing market. (Never mind the generational indentured servitude this implies.) This idea, floated by a former real estate mogul, conveniently avoids addressing the root causes: stagnant wages, unchecked corporate landlords, and the conversion of housing into a
speculative asset class. It’s the banking sector that benefits most from perpetually extending debt, not homeowners. Mortgage lenders, for instance, saw record profits during periods of housing inflation, a detail rarely highlighted when politicians 'innovate' with longer payment schemes. This isn't a 'shake-up,' it's merely a repackaging of the same old trick: make something unaffordable, then
offer longer payment terms to hide the fact it's still unaffordable. One might consider why politicians don't explore options like rent control, increasing housing supply through public programs, or curbing hedge fund housing acquisitions, strategies that might actually lower costs rather than just stretching out the pain. Instead, we get proposals that ensure you'll be paying a mortgage well into
your golden years, perhaps even beyond.