As people reacted – mostly negatively, from what I saw – to the possibilities of 50 year mortgages in the United States, one article noted that 40 year mortgages has a history and can be obtained now:

I remember a time when a 40-year mortgage — and a 50-year adjustable rate mortgage — built some buzz back around 2006 and 2007 for people who were struggling to buy a home. It didn’t work out well if you had to sell when home prices collapsed.

The 40-year mortgage has a history going back to the early 1980s, according to an earlier report in the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, when 18% fixed-interest rates were squeezing consumers out of buying homes. It never proved to be the most popular product…

If you shop around, some lenders are offering 40-year mortgages now.

Rocket Mortgage notes online that the Detroit-based giant offers a 40-year mortgage with the first 10 years being interest-only payments. These mortgages can be available for loan amounts between $125,000 to $2 million.

I wonder how many people apply for and receive 40 year mortgages.

Reading the reactions to the idea of a 50 year mortgage, I was struck by how much of the conversation was dominated by financial details. How much equity would a homeowner have after 20 years? When would the interest parts of the payment taper off compared to paying down principal? How would interest rates be different for a 50 year loan? I should not be surprised given how much homeownership is now seen in the United States as a financial investment. It is a tool to build wealth, perhaps the biggest tool most people will have.

But homes are about more than that. Americans have ideas about the virtues of owning a home compared to being a renter. A homeowner might feel differently and act differently regarding their property if they have a mortgage. Numerous neighborhoods and communities are structured around homeownership (such as many suburbs). Having a stable and affordable residence can help contribute to numerous positive outcomes.

Are we at a stage when public discussions about housing then are exclusively or are primarily about the finances of owning a home – which are certainly important – and not any influential factors that might encourage or discourage people from owning homes in the United States?