Make Payments for a Half Century

USA Today reports of a new trend by big banks offering up--not 40, but 50-year adjustable-rate mortgages. The article says that this is a clear sign that the real estate market is cooling down and the lender competition is now heating up. With record home prices, the new 50-year mortgages are supposed to help keep the payments affordable. Then again, when median home prices in California are over a half million dollars, no word has ever been more mis-used for the common folk than "affordable." At least banks are developing new creative options.