Lower rates would likely eliminate the need for 50-year mortgage, Treasury adviser says

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New York, Dec ‌3 (Reuters) – Lower interest rates would likely eliminate the ‌need for a 50-year mortgage floated by President Donald Trump’s administration to boost housing affordability, Joseph Lavorgna, a counselor to ⁠U.S. Treasury ‌Secretary Scott Bessent, told Reuters NEXT on Wednesday.

Lavorgna said that the ‍idea of a 50-year mortgage was not necessarily officially off the table, but noted that ​it was a proposal from the ‌Federal Housing Finance Agency to try to lower monthly mortgage payments. The problem with the housing market is that interest rates are too high because of ⁠the Federal Reserve’s cautious ​approach to lowering them, ​he added.

“We won’t need a 50-year mortgage if the Fed was ‍lowering its ⁠rates, which I think it will,” Lavorgna said, “But it’s been, I think, ⁠very slow and uneven on that score.”

(Reporting by ‌Andrea Shalal and David Lawder; Editing ‌by Chizu Nomiyama )