Civil Bites | 50-Year Mortgages: A Broken Housing System

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This episode discusses the U.S. housing crisis and explores the proposed 50-year mortgage. It delves into why housing prices continue to rise while incomes stagnate, highlighting the insufficient housing supply and increased mobility of Americans. We also discuss socio-political factors that influence migration patterns, including LGBT laws and racial inequalities. We talk about the proposed long-term mortgage for its impracticality, address the potential consequences of current policies, and stress the urgent need for building and investment, especially in underdeveloped areas, as a viable solution.

00:00 Introduction: The 50-Year Mortgage Proposal
00:11 The Housing Supply Crisis
00:39 Migration Patterns and Their Impact
01:43 Economic Factors and Housing Prices
02:04 Challenges of a 50-Year Mortgage
02:28 Healthcare and Lifespan Considerations
02:57 Socioeconomic Factors and Home Ownership
04:29 The Need for Comprehensive Investment
04:47 A Call to Action for 2028

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This administration is nowtoying with the idea of
considering a 50 year mortgage.
Why do home prices keep goingup?
But our incomes have not kept upwith the pace.
The culprit that most peoplewould point out is the housing
supply.
Over the last 30 to 40 years,the United States has not built
enough housing to control thedemand for people trying to buy

(00:22):
new homes and trying to move tonew places.
We are a much more mobile peoplenow, in comparison to the
Boomers, they were able to buy ahome, live and work in the same
place for forever.
There is just not enough supplyout there for single family
homes with all the moving aroundthat we are doing.
I mean, if you think about it,we live in a very blue county

(00:43):
and city, but any other gay orbrown or black person live in an
area where this MAGA extremismhas been taken a hold of your
state for the last decade.
If you're lucky, you work hard,get educated, and then get out.
We even touched on this topicrecently about how anti LGBT
laws are affecting the state ofMissouri's economy.

(01:04):
But if you're either gay, brownor black, or even a well
educated young person, you aremore likely to leave for a bluer
state where large chunks of thepopulation coexist.
And if you can't move to a bluestate, people gravitate towards
the crowded metro cities.
I mean, a majority of the majorcities out there are held by
Democratic representatives.

(01:26):
I'd assume an alt-rightChristian living in a deep blue
area would be doing the exactopposite.
And it's not just the minoritiesthat are moving.
People move to bigger cities orareas for jobs, amenities like
healthcare and an overall senseof stability.
But in terms of the housingcrisis, it's a simple economics

(01:47):
problem of supply and demand.
If you have more peoplesearching for fewer homes, they
start to build up the pricewhich make the home appreciation
accelerate.
If you factor in a 50 yearmortgage, the same thing is
going to continue to happen.
The self-defeating purpose ofTrump's proposal, and we don't

(02:07):
even know how serious this evenis.
There are clearly legal andregulatory issues that have to
be ironed out on whether a 50year mortgage is even possible.
I mean, for the first time ever,the average age for a first time
home buyer in America is 40years old.
So.
Do the math, you'd be 90 by thetime you finally own it.

(02:28):
I'm not expecting theRepublicans to just swoop in and
wave some magic wand foruniversal healthcare, where life
expectancy significantlyincreases.
The total lifespan for a UScitizen is 78.
Missouri is 74, Texas, 76,California 79, and those numbers
are drastically down due toCOVID, which the alt-right

(02:51):
claimed was a hoax.
We don't even put enough focuson healthcare.
You'll be dead by the time youown the home.
Well, let me switch gears heretoday, a person the age of 40
has a 17 to 35% chance ofreaching the age of 90.
That all depends on genetics andsocioeconomic status.

(03:12):
Also, keep in mind that no oneis having babies.
The Republicans won't invest inchildcare because it's too damn
expensive.
So you die, you're 80.
The bank takes her home becausethey, you don't have any kids.
Or if you did have kids, they'llbe stuck in their own 50 year
mortgages and.
No one can seem to fix thepathway to citizenship problem

(03:33):
that seemed to work in the1920s, but apparently it just
doesn't work.
Now, that's if people still evenwant to live here, because after
all this administration is doneto the families of non-citizens.
That's just another story for adifferent day.
We're just going to end up witha bunch of rundown vacant homes
and Republicans.

(03:54):
They'll pass it on to the nextgeneration to fix, just like
they do with every problem.
The climate crisis, nextgeneration, the national debt,
next generation.
I mean, look at how they handledimmigration.
The New York Times actuallyquoted me on an article during
my week as a delicate at theChicago DNC.
My number one point for KamalaHarris's election bid was.

(04:16):
Home ownership.
There are just way too manypeople in our age bracket that
don't own homes.
They can't afford a home.
There is no end in sight withthis current housing crisis in
America.
And a 50 year mortgage is notthe answer we need to build.
We need to invest.
And let me emphasize that itneeds to be in every part of the

(04:39):
country, not just the boomingTexas, new York's and Florida's.
It needs to be the Missouri, theKansas, the Michigan.
It is an essential top tierpriority that the Democratic
Party must aggressivelyconcentrate on in 2028.