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Home values show the costs people are willing pay to be home owners in desirable areas. There is no Ponzi system here (there are some markets which are, mind yo
by ppeetteerr 5y ago
Home values show the costs people are willing pay to be home owners in desirable areas. There is no Ponzi system here (there are some markets which are, mind you, but not all)
Having said this, the US government's insistence on tax subsidies for home ownership is bull. It restricts geographic mobility, encourages people to get mortgages they cannot afford, creates unnecessary pollution, and creates a delusion that being a home owner is an aspiration. It's another case of the government trying to help and hurting people instead. As the author mentioned, if you want to help the housing situation, stop subsidizing at the federal level.
- sokoloff 5y agoIf you stop the owner-occupied mortgage interest deduction and property tax deduction (both of which have been nerfed a bit in the last few years), you put commercial landlords at an advantage relative to owner-occupants (as commercial landlords are taxed on profits not revenues, like any other business). I personally think that’s a bad policy balance in its own way.
- ppeetteerr 5y agoThat shouldn't necessarily be a consideration. Apartment units are owned by commercial landlords and there is no harm in that.