Properly speaking, the
> tax benefit is received by all who will purchase, are purchasing,
> or have paid for a house.
Not really. Only those whose mortagage interest is, has been or will be above the standard deduction (reduced by any other deductions they may have, such as charity, etc). Roughly speaking, only those whose mortgage is, has been or will be over $100,000. If I recall, the median house sells for $120,000. Since people are susually required to put 20% down, this means that over half of present, past or future homeowners (who are themselves a somewhat selective segment of the population) will never, ever benefit from it, doesn't it? Also, the benefits are pretty negligible unless your *average* mortgage (roughly speaking, half of your *starting* mortgage, since it presumably varies between that point and zero) is well north of $100,000, which essentially means folks who can afford 1/4 million homes. Top quintile, roughly speaking.
-- Enrique Diaz-Alvarez Office # (607) 255 5034 Electrical Engineering Home # (607) 272 4808 112 Phillips Hall Fax # (607) 255 4565 Cornell University mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu Ithaca, NY 14853 http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique