A 30-Year Trap: The Problem With America’s Weird Mortgages

StrawberryPigtails@lemmy.sdf.org to News@lemmy.world – 144 points –
A 30-Year Trap: The Problem With America’s Weird Mortgages
nytimes.com
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Something is good for consumers so it must be a problem. Fucking economists.

It's not good for the consumers, that's the issue.

Hmm, like most things, depends on the consumer. I bought my house in 2014. It’s been working out great for me at the moment. Love my $700/month mortgage. It’s s cheaper than anything I could rent in my area right now. The people having an issue right now are the banks and the folks on the lower end of the economic ladder. I can’t say I’m too concerned about the problems that the banks are having. For everyone else, I feel for them. They just need to hang on, keep paying attention, and be patient. Things will get better.

This entire article is about how it favors consumers vs mortgages in other countries.

No, the article is about how our fucks those, who want to buy a house, but can't afford it anymore.

No, it is about how consumers in the US have access to a 30 year fixed mortgage and the ability to refinance when interest rates lower which is not available anywhere else. This is a different issue than the current housing market prices which are driven by scarcity due to institutions buying homes. The author is trying to conflate the two to advocate for screwing the consumer and it seems to have worked on at least one reader.

So whats your solution, fuck everyone with higher rates and force people that have lived in the same home for many many years to sell due to external factors outside of their control?

Well, I live in the UK right now and what people are doing here is that they live in a house for 5-10 years and then swap it to a bigger one. You will get a lot of equity in 5-10 years, so you can remortgage, get a better house and pay less. Or they move to cheaper areas and buy mansions for the price of a flat in London.

And even if you don't want to move, you can remortgage and pay less simply because your debt is much smaller now. Also before current rate rises people with high equity would remortgage at super low %, take cash and invest it. 10 years later you're rich AF doing fuck all.