Trump admin plans 50-year mortgage as ‘game changer’ for homebuyers

president Donald Trump Administration officials have indicated they plan to develop a 50-year mortgage that they believe could expand access to homeownership, although experts warn that longer-term mortgages may hold back homebuyers.

On Saturday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform an infographic showing photos of “great American presidents” including Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was in office when the 30-year mortgage was promoted, and himself to suggest he would develop a 50-year mortgage.

“Thanks to President Trump, we are already working on the 50-year mortgage — a complete game-changer,” Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Bolte added in a post on X.

Financial industry experts responded to 50 year mortgage The proposal is received with skepticism, noting that it would likely come with a higher interest rate than a traditional 30-year mortgage, and that a longer term would increase the cumulative interest borrowers pay.

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Joel Berner, chief economist at Realtor.com, noted that while the plan’s appeal is to “break the logjam” in the housing market, which has seen sales slow this year, there are significant downsides for buyers under the proposal, and the “savings” from a 50-year mortgage could be completely negated by the government. House prices rise“.

“The disadvantages are that a 50-year mortgage results in roughly twice the interest payments of a 30-year mortgage and a longer path to true home equity, and that the result of supporting demand for homes without increasing the supply of homes could be an increase in home prices that cancels out the potential savings,” Berner said.

He said that assuming a 6.25% rate on both the 50-year mortgage and the 30-year mortgage — which he noted was unlikely because the longer-term loan would have a higher rate and greater interest costs — the total interest on the 50-year loan would be $816,396 compared to the interest on the 30-year loan of $438,156.

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Loans with longer terms increase your total borrowing costs over time. (Lindsay Nicholson/UCG/Universal Image Group via Getty Images)

David Bahnsen, founder, managing partner and chief investment officer of Bahnsen Group, told FOX Business that a 50-year mortgage would worsen… Affordability issues As interest costs rise over the life of the loan.

“The main issue with affordability is the down payment and the interest rate,” Bahnsen said. “A 50-year mortgage will not change the down payment requirement, and interest rates for longer-term debt are higher than they are for shorter-maturity debt.”

“Stretching out the payment for an additional 20 years would lower the monthly payment but only by making the total cost of borrowing over time much higher. Of course, to the extent that a longer-term mortgage lowers the monthly payment, this gets priced into the sticker price of the home and makes affordability worse, not better.”

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The Trump administration is also working to ease short-term mortgages, FHFA Director Bill Bolte said. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“Banks will like this because the total interest paid will be significantly higher with a longer amortization period,” Bahnsen added, and said a better way to address housing affordability is to expand housing construction through… Reducing regulatory burdens Related to zoning and licensing.

Bolt on Sunday responded to criticism over the proposal on social media, saying on

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He later said that Trump administration It is also working on ways to reduce payments on the 5-year mortgage, 10-year mortgage, and 15-year mortgage.