Answer: How likely is it that Trump's proposal of a 50-year mortgage would help ease the affordability crisis in the housing market?

For context, this is a question I answered on Quora

The only thing it would do is prove the saying there's a sucker born every minute. Not only would these suckers spend substantially more money on the sunken cost of financing their home over the life of their loan, but sellers would also raise their asking prices because 50-year mortgages would create the illusion that borrowing is cheaper, but only on a monthly basis. Of course, the suggestion that mortgages be extended another 2 decades, as if 3 decades isn't already a stretch, does nothing to solve the severe housing shortage that makes housing so much more expensive. As of December 2025, new housing starts sat at 1.25 million. When American home construction hit a peak 20 years ago new housing starts were 2.27 million for a population that was 15% smaller than it is now.