Trump suggested 50-year mortgages. This expert calls that 'renting from the bank'

A veteran housing analyst says stretching repayment over five decades offers minimal financial benefit, delays equity, constrains mobility, and limits long-term wealth-building.

In this article published Dec. 1, 2025, on KJZZ's The Show:

Well, listen, if the cost of replacing the house you're in is much higher than the cost of staying in the house, you're not going to make that trade-off. So we downsize, we look at aging in place, we look at other social factors that relate to our desire to sell and move. And if you're going to sell your house and you're going to basically trade dollars, why do that? Unless you can move into something that is better suited for you. But there's not a lot of those opportunities for people. The housing market hasn't been particularly fluid. And so given a choice, it's like, I'm gonna stay right where I am. Why incur a higher cost of living for myself if I don't have to?

— Mark Stapp, Fred E. Taylor Professor in Real Estate, executive director of the Master of Real Estate Development program, and director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice and Experiential Learning Lab