Fox Business Network anchor Charles Payne gave a thumbs down to Donald Trump’s plan of offering 50-year mortgages to prospective homeowners as a way of addressing housing affordability, saying he does “not like the idea” as it is “not the way to do this.”
With the Trump administration currently under fire over the issue of the rising costs of living and soaring housing prices, the president floated the idea of a 50-year mortgage over the weekend. At the same time, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte declared that his office was “working on it” and it would be a “complete game-changer.”
Creating a longer-term mortgage product – currently, lenders offer a maximum of 30-year home loans – could lead to lower monthly payments for some homeowners. Financial experts have warned that there would be some severe trade-offs, however, and the amount of short-term savings would be minimal.
Besides needing federal regulations to change in order to increase amortization terms, which lenders would wait on before even offering the products, the higher rates and additional time to pay off the mortgages would result in borrowers paying substantially more interest over the life of the loans.
“This is not the best way to solve housing affordability. The administration would do better to reverse tariff-induced inflation, which is keeping the rates on existing mortgages high,” Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner said in a statement.
According to Mortgage News Daily, the median sales price of an American home is $415,200, and the average 30-year fixed loan interest rate is 6.3 percent. Based on a 20 percent down payment, the monthly principal and interest payment would be $2,056. When that is increased to a 50-year loan at the same interest rate, the reduction in payment is just $233 per month.
Appearing on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom on Monday morning, Payne – who previously fumed at the media for focusing on the economic “pain” caused by Trump’s tariffs – explained that the risks of the president’s 50-year plan outweighed the benefits to borrowers.
“Okay, so the big word from last week was affordability. And I really wanted to have you on so you could define affordability for us,” Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer said before asking Payne his thoughts on the proposal.
“I do not like this idea,” Payne said. “And again, it depends on how much the house costs.”
After pointing out that a homeowner would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest over the life of a 50-year mortgage, Payne reiterated his belief that this was a bad plan.
“It is just a gargantuan difference just to make people feel better. That's not the way to do this, right. There are so many other ways,” he stated.
Still, Payne expressed optimism about the bulk of Trump’s economic strategy, applauding him on both his tariff policies and the largely unpopular tax and spending package that Republicans passed earlier this year.
“I feel so strongly about the momentum that we'll have going into next year. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill kicks in. We will have a more accommodating Federal Reserve. I think economic activity is going to build,” he exclaimed.
“I think we're on the precipice of an economic boom with lower mortgage rates that will help the housing market a lot,” Payne concluded. “So, I would rather see President Trump do some other things with that tariff money.”
This past spring, Payne groused that the multi-week Wall Street sell-off and rising concerns about a possible recession due to the president’s chaotic trade war were all a “media creation” aimed at hurting the president.
“The media has gone to war with President Trump to make tariffs the scariest thing in the world,” Payne grumbled in March.
Trump threatens to sue BBC for $1bn over Panorama edit scandal: Live
An emerging shutdown deal doesn't extend expiring health subsidies. Here's what could happen to them
Trump threatens to sue BBC for $1bn over edited speech fiasco
How fast will SNAP food stamps start flowing again once the government reopens?
British journalist Sami Hamdi to be released following ICE detention, family say
Jeffries challenged about Schumer’s leadership after shutdown vote: Live
