Appearing in CNN Underscored on April 8, 2024, Alaya Linton, Andrew Pentis, and Katie Lowery talk to Sarah Bolling Mancini about 40-year mortgages that make monthly payments smaller but increase the total cost of repayment.
“In the first five or six years of a 30-year mortgage, almost all of the payment is going towards interest. That initial time frame would be longer with a 40-year mortgage.”
Sarah Mancini, co-director of advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center.
However, with mortgage affordability a continued challenge amid elevated mortgage rates and high home prices, a 40-year loan can provide a path to homeownership if you wouldn’t otherwise qualify for a loan.
“In particularly expensive housing markets, a 40-year mortgage might make the difference between a housing payment that is affordable versus not affordable,” said Mancini.
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