Space: The Final Mortgage Frontier?

Mortgage professionals seeking to expand their footprint may have a new market to explore thanks to a start-up company that is bringing housing opportunities to an untapped region.

According to a report by Nature World News, the company RedWorks is developing a 3-D printing system that would enable homebuilders to create residential structures on Mars. Why on Mars, you may wonder? Well, NASA is planning a launch to Mars in 2030 and Redworks founder Keegan Kirkpatrick believes the Red Planet is the next big opportunity for home builders.

"There are a lot of businesses focused on launching satellites and humans into space, but one important thing that isn't being addressed very much is the kind of infrastructure that needs to be put in place for us to be able to operate on another planet," Kirkpatrick explained.

However, Kirkpatrick has not set a price for this future housing. It is also not clear if mortgages for Martian housing would fall under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s regulatory authority, though it safe to assume this type of home loan would stretch the QM rule to the fraying point.