Secret #32 – “Affordable” Mortgages are Affordable for the Government
johnwake.substack.com
The U.S. home ownership strategy for many decades has focused on mortgages – to make mortgages easier to get – with the idea being that more mortgages would lead to more first-home buyers and to more home ownership. Politically, the strategy has been popular. Instead of focusing on making housing less expensive which might cost the government real money or might upset the real estate establishment, supporters fight for more “affordable” housing which is their code name for making mortgages easier to get even if the more “affordable” mortgages will have higher foreclosure rates in the long run. In addition, the cost of those programs is invisible. They increase home sales without really increasing direct government spending.
Secret #32 – “Affordable” Mortgages are Affordable for the Government
Secret #32 – “Affordable” Mortgages are…
Secret #32 – “Affordable” Mortgages are Affordable for the Government
The U.S. home ownership strategy for many decades has focused on mortgages – to make mortgages easier to get – with the idea being that more mortgages would lead to more first-home buyers and to more home ownership. Politically, the strategy has been popular. Instead of focusing on making housing less expensive which might cost the government real money or might upset the real estate establishment, supporters fight for more “affordable” housing which is their code name for making mortgages easier to get even if the more “affordable” mortgages will have higher foreclosure rates in the long run. In addition, the cost of those programs is invisible. They increase home sales without really increasing direct government spending.