The housing crisis in the United States—and the rest of the Western world—has left millions of potential buyers out of the market. Due to astronomical prices and interest rates (which seem to be rising to James Webb Space Telescope‘s level), the dream of owning your own home seems further away than ever. That’s why many American families are clinging to any hope of owning their own home… no matter how controversial the solution may be.
A “solution” to housing prices
Our beloved/hated President of the United States, Donald Trump, seems unable to sit still for a single day. His latest move that has landed him in the press is to suggest a somewhat bizarre solution to the housing problem: 50-year mortgages. According to him, this would greatly reduce the problem… by reducing the monthly payment. Economists and financial experts were quick to respond with indignation. After all, doing the math, when would a person have to sign their first mortgage if they wanted to pay it off in their lifetime? At age 15? Looking at the average life expectancy in the United States… the numbers just don’t add up.
A 50-year mortgage is not only a catastrophe for personal wealth, but it also doubles the total cost of housing… and only serves to drive up housing prices in the market.
Political context of this notion
The idea was announced on the Truth Social platform on November 8, 2025. This post compared Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposed 30-year mortgage with his own 50-year mortgage. The concept was promoted by Bill Pulte, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
However, this is a proposal with no political weight, an idea thrown out there without much thought. For now, we do not believe that the current U.S. administration will create any legislation that would push banks to offer this type of mortgage that lasts half a century. This has not saved him from criticism even from his own party. The fact is that conservatives, while traditional, seem to have a better understanding of economics than other sectors of the population.
A 50-year mortgage not only means you pay a higher percentage of interest over the decades, but it also leaves you at the mercy of the bank. If a person with this type of mortgage dies, who’s to say that they won’t remodel the mortgage for the heir who wants to keep the property and continue paying for it? This is nothing more than a covert leasing model, in which you never own anything—and it becomes impossible to accumulate intergenerational wealth.
The monthly payment trap
To understand why a 50-year loan is so dangerous, we first need to address the concept of “interest.” Interest is the cost of “renting” money from the bank so you can buy your house today. It is the money the bank earns, and it is calculated daily on the outstanding balance of your debt. The longer you rent this money, the more you pay the bank for it. That’s where the monthly payment trap lies. Over a 50-year term, you would pay $200 to $250 less than you would on a 30-year loan (for example). However, this short-term relief comes at a brutal long-term financial penalty.
If we buy a house for $450,000 on a 30-year mortgage, the total interest we will pay on the loan—apart from repaying the money—will be an extra $434,000. However, when we consider a 50-year mortgage, the interest we will have to pay the bank, apart from the money borrowed, will easily exceed US$800,000. Not only will you have to repay the money, but you will end up paying almost double the original price in interest alone. With a 50-year mortgage, the repayment of the principal is delayed for the first two decades, as almost all of your monthly payments will go towards covering the interest alone.