KingShawn, 14 days ago

@gedeonm I’m honestly confused. How would giving people money after they’ve bought the home help them buy the home?

gedeonm, 14 days ago

@KingShawn Um, to help with their mortgage payments maybe?

KingShawn, 13 days ago

@gedeonm Yes but they wouldn’t get the money until after they buy a house, right? It doesn’t help them to actually buy a house. It only helps after they’ve already bought, right?

mpjgregoire, 14 days ago

@gedeonm If the government gives people money to buy housing, won't sellers raise their prices correspondingly?

gedeonm, 14 days ago

@mpjgregoire I’m not sure. The government already gives homeowners incentives and money in the form of mortgage interest deductions on their taxes. Has that significantly raised the cost of home owning? I highly doubt it.

mpjgregoire, 14 days ago

@gedeonm Economists generally believe that the mortgage interest tax deduction in the US has increased housing prices. See https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20141751

(This article is aimed at the general public and lists other problems with the policy: https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2018/may/why-economists-dont-like-mortgage-interest-deduction )

In Canada, we don't have a deduction for mortgage interest, and we have a higher homeownership rate than the US: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_home_ownership_rate

#uspol #CanPol #housing #economics