In a move to combat high real estate costs, President Trump is proposing a new approach to help Americans buy homes: 50-year mortgages.
In a post on Truth Social earlier this month, President Trump shared a photo of President Roosevelt introducing the 30-year mortgage while he announced the 50-year mortgage.
The U.S. Director of Federal Housing, Bill Pulte, supported the idea.
“Thanks to President Trump, we are indeed working on The 50 Year Mortgage – a complete game changer,” Pulte recently stated. “We hear you. We are laser focused on ensuring the American Dream for YOUNG PEOPLE and that can only happen on the economic level of homebuying. A 50 Year Mortgage is simply a potential weapon in a WIDE arsenal of solutions that we are developing right now. STAY TUNED.”
Although President Trump and his administration continue to push for 50-year mortgages, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Consumer Protection Act, which was passed during the 2008 financial crisis, does not allow the federal government to create mortgages longer than 30 years.
The White House backed President Trump’s 50-year mortgage proposal. “President Trump is always exploring new ways to improve housing affordability for everyday Americans,” a White House official shared in a statement to ABC News. “Any official policy changes will be announced by the White House.”
Members of Congress Speak out Against President Trump’s 50-Year Mortgages Pitch
Not long after President Trump proposed 50-year mortgages, members of Congress took to social media to speak out about the possible real estate option.
Georgia Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene quickly dismissed the 50-year mortgage idea.
“I don’t like 50-year mortgages as the solution to the housing affordability crisis,” she declared. “It will ultimately reward the banks, mortgage lenders, and home builders while people pay far more in interest over time and die before they ever pay off their home.”
Noting it would put Americans in debt “forever,” Green stated, “Instead, stop companies and asset managers from buying up single-family homes, which has driven the price of homes and forced homebuyers to compete with corporations that turn thousands of homes into permanent rental homes.”
Kentucky Republican Representative Thomas Massie also opposed 50-year mortgages. “How is ‘here, enjoy this 50 year mortgage’ different from ‘you will own nothing and you will like it?’” he asked.
