The prospect of young people taking out 50 year mortgages is “not good financial advice”, a housing expert has warned. 

In the United States, President Trump has said his administration is looking at the proposal as a way to help more people onto the housing ladder. 

Could something similar work in Ireland? On The Pat Kenny Show, Navigating Mortgages Managing Director Margaret Barrett was sceptical. 

“I think it's a good soundbite coming out of the US, is my opinion,” she said.

“It certainly will not be a solution for our property crisis that we're experiencing here in Ireland.

“You do not want a mortgage into your 80s and 90s - it's quite simple.”

A bunch of keys in a door. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Ms Barrett continued that while it might seem “attractive” to young people in their early 20s, it would not be practical for most. 

“We know the first-time buyer here in Ireland is aged 35 to 36 - which means that if they take a 50-year mortgage, they're paying their mortgage into their mid to late 80s,” she explained. 

“Which is not good financial advice, let's be honest.”

Ms Barrett added that the length of mortgages is not the root of Ireland’s housing crisis, supply remains the country’s “number one problem”. 

“It's simple economics - it really is supply and demand,” she said. 

“We are building a lot fewer houses than we were back in 2005, 2006, when we were delivering over 80,000 units per annum.

“We'll be all out this year to deliver into the 40,000s and that is set to continue, unfortunately, for the next couple of years.

“The outlook after that, please, God, will brighten up.”

Last year, 30,330 new homes were built - notably fewer than the 32,695 completed in 2023. 

Main image: A man walking past 'For Sale' signs in Dublin. Picture by: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie