America\u2019s huge mortgage market is slowly dying. In America\u2019s foundation myths, the humble mortgage rarely features. There are no stirring ballads about the heroism of 30-year rates or credit-scoring. Yet mortgages have fueled the American dream, which centers on home ownership, ever since the federal government began subsidizing property loans a century ago. Now that fuel is running low. At $13.5 trillion, America\u2019s current stock of mortgage debt is equivalent to 44% of the country\u2019s GDP. That marks a drop of almost 30 percentage points since the global financial crisis of 2007-09, which was sparked by a binge on dicey housing debt, and the lowest level since 1999, before that property bubble got started. More striking still, mortgage debt has shrunk to just 27% of the value of American household property\u2014a 65-year low. A great de-mortgaging is under way, with worrying consequences for the property market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Wall Street fretting about other corners of American finance, such as booming private lending to shaky mid-size firms, the tranquility of the mortgage market might seem like a sign of healthy restraint. In fact, it masks an insidious crisis. The median monthly principal-and-interest payment on an American home has surged from just above $1,000 to $2,100 in five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> "Mortgage debt has shrunk to just 27% of the value of American household property\u2014a 65-year low. A great demortgaging is under way, with worrying consequences for the property market" https:\/\/t.co\/dJcHA6ehZQ<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/IGSoQOrQIH<\/a><\/p>— Jim Russell (@ProducerCities) November 20, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>