Getting the government out of the mortgage business might unleash the power of the free market in home loans, but it could also make 30-year mortgages a thing of the past, some analysts are warning.

In fact, ending government guarantees on home loans would actually make mortgages more expensive and harder to obtain for consumers, while exposing taxpayers to greater financial risks as well, according to one major study.   With government-created lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the chopping block after losing at least $150 billion in the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, some fiscal conservatives are urging that the government get completely out of the business of guaranteeing home loans, a role it has played since the New Deal. Read full post…