JPMorgan to invest $750B to help 500K Americans buy homes

JPMorgan Chase says it’s investing a whopping $750 billion through 2035 to help millions of Americans buy homes as many report the economic milestone slipping further out of reach.The nation’s largest bank said the financing will build or preserve 1 million affordable housing units and help half a million customers purchase homes as part of its “American Dream Initiative” unveiled earlier this year, which aims to support small businesses and other economic pillars.“An affordable and resilient housing market is essential to driving economic growth and increasing opportunity,” Michelle Herrick, JPMorgan’s head of commercial real estate, said in a Monday statement.The bank said it plans to help those 500,000 customers – including 200,000 first-time homebuyers – purchase houses by ramping up mortgage lending by more than 40% and hiring 850 new Home Lending Advisors.It has carved out funding specifically for housing projects in the San Francisco area priced within reach of middle-income households, including nearly $200 million in financing for a 342-unit building on the waterfront, according to the bank.JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who has led the bank for two decades, has long sounded the alarm over the future of the economy — specifically housing affordability issues in cities like New York City and San Francisco.In June, the median price of existing homes reached a staggering $440,660, while the median age of first-time homebuyers last year jumped to 40 — the highest age on record, according to the National Association of Realtors.In the New York City metro area, the crisis is even worse, with the median age of a homebuyer hitting 58.8 years old – just a few years shy of Social Security eligibility.“Homeownership has always been at the heart of the American Dream.Owning a home can transform lives – providing stability, helping families build wealth, and creating a sense of community,” Sean Grzebin, CEO of Chase Home Lending, said in a stat...