Don't Blame the Mortgage Interest Deduction for Housing Affordability

This NY Times opinion article (see below) is a good discussion, but it pins the blame on the middle-class and the mortgage interest deduction (MID) they need in order to maintain homeownership.

Contributors to the current crisis in affordability that the article completely overlooked:

1. Education: well-educated people tend to earn more (like the Asare family) and therefore can more likely afford a home;

2. Family size: larger families have more food, clothing and other expenses, taking away from saving for a home;

3. Jobs: outsourcing of manufacturing and technology jobs has lowered the incomes of millions of Americans. Look to continued automation to further exacerbate Americans' earning power;

4. Foreign investment: the U.S. market (at least in the large cities) is flooded with Chinese and other investors who are purchasing properties through Americans. Limits by the Chinese government on U.S. investments have simply resulted in the investment money being diverted to countries, such as Israel, which then direct the money back here. Former President Richard Nixon said China was going to "own us" 40 years ago in his interview with David Frost.

5. The skyrocketing cost of healthcare. Need I say more?

Removing the MID, in my opinion, will send the real estate and other financial markets south, as I believe it will trigger defaults. That serves no one except foreign investors, who will then own even more of the American pie.

How Homeownership Became the Engine of American Inequality