And just because you take out a 50 year mortgage doesn't mean you have to take 50 years. Many people pay extra on their mortgage to pay it off sooner. But the positive thing will be the lower required payment, which gives people a needed flexibility.

It's really not the worst thing. And is still better than renting, where you rent can be substantially increased year to year.

Especially in high cost of living areas. It you’re living in the Midwest it’s a different situation, but in areas where homes are north of a million dollars, it’s an entirely different story. Very few getting mortgages now in California will be able to pay them off in their lifetime.

On the face of it a 50 year mortgage sounds great, but I doubt banks are really interested in holding them that long. And this might lead to even greater appreciation and less affordability.

Mainly because people are more apt to move multiple times now than they were 50 years ago. Your housing needs change throughout the difference stages of your adult life, especially given that we are living a little longer.

I definitely think the 50 year mortgage will be regional, based on areas where the cost of housing is higher than average.

Thirty year mortgages were for young families starting out; assuming the breadwinner(s) would have a stable career by the ages of 30 and be able to pay until they retired at 60.
Or would have life insurance to pay off the house should something happen to them.
My parents were over 30, they had to get a 15-20 year loan, they were too old for the less expensive 30 year GI bill loan dad was eligible for.

50 years? The first 30 years will be paying interest, before the principal starts dropping to halfway.
Your heirs will need to take out a mortgage to pay off your mortgage if you're not healthy and long lived, especially if you're just an average working slob buying a house at today's prices...

A 25 year old will be 75 at the end of the mortgage. A 30 year old will be 80...

There is just too much of a disconnect between the rise in property values versus wages. It just doesn’t work for first time homebuyers so they are inventing an even crazier loan to try and close the gap.

There are many reasons this stinks but the one that stands out to me is that the only way it even remotely works is in a rising market. If the market doesn’t rise, those borrowers will be upside down for decades since they will be making no progress against the borrowed amount.

I wonder if the banks even have any interest in this. One of the lurking monsters in the housing market is sea level rise. I have a friend that wrote a book about SLR and he made the astute point that the viability of housing won’t wait until the actual effects take place. It will happen when it is imminent within the foreseeable life of a loan. Why would a bank want to be on the hook for a property that will be underwater in 30 years. It just gets more critical looking 50 years out.

until their 40s. They will have live to 90 to pay it off.

The interest on a fifty year mortgage will be more than the price of the house and then some.

It really is time to break this whole system.