The Trump administration is considering new mortgage options designed to help more Americans buy homes, including so-called portable mortgages and 50-year loans.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte announced Wednesday that his agency is exploring portable mortgages, which would allow homeowners to transfer an existing mortgage to a new house instead of taking on a new loan.
"We are actively evaluating portable mortgages," Pulte said in a statement.
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President Donald Trump has also teased the idea of 50-year mortgages, saying they could lower monthly payments by spreading costs over a longer period. Whether such a loan would help the current housing crisis is heavily debated.
Supporters say a longer mortgage term would lower monthly payments and help more people buy homes. Critics counter that borrowers would pay far more interest over time and build equity more slowly, because early payments would primarily go toward interest.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, told Realtor.com that extending mortgages to 50 years would not solve affordability issues, saying the real problem is the lack of homes in low- and mid-price ranges.
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There is also concern that allowing more buyers into the market without increasing the supply of homes could drive prices even higher, fueling competition and bidding wars. The median price for an existing single-family home is currently $426,800, up 1.7% from a year ago.
