> You'll pay for any house at any rate 2-3+ times over if you just pay the minimum payments.
Maybe that's the problem - making only the minimum payments?
The people making only the minimum payment due would probably have screwed themselves in other ways, financially, even if interest remained the same.
I bought my house in Dec-2016[0]. My outstanding principle owed to the bank right now is just a hair over 17% of what the original principle was when I was granted the loan.
Whenever my circumstances improved (wage increases due to moving jobs, cash bonuses in employment, etc), the extra money each month always went into my mortgage, despite complaints from my wife that we could do with a nice holiday in some other part of the world (or that she could do with a new car[1]).
That's basically 6 years. Now perhaps there are people who did not have their income improved over 6 years, but I don't think that the majority of borrowers experienced no income improvement[2].
The real problem is that borrowers have been making the minimum monthly payments, and spending the increased income elsewhere (new iShinies, new cars, new furniture, expensive holidays ... whatever).
People underestimate just how much inroads they could make into their principle if they didn't have high monthly car payments, or "need" a 24-month cell plan that basically sells them the phone at twice the price because "Look, I get all these minutes and data for free each month".
[0] I'm not in the US, although in the country I am in, I'm in a fairly middle-class and desirable area
[1] As someone who can rebuild just about anything in an ICE car, I keep her car running just fine, even though it's a 2011 hatchback.
[2] I admit, I experienced drastic income improvement (roughly 40% increase) when I switched from being an embedded developer to a backend developer. Completing an MSc didn't hurt either.