New Administration trying to stifle the Buckhead housing market.

The NAR recently sent me an email stating their opposition to the administration’s mortgage deduction phase-out plan. Here is the key excerpt:

As currently drafted, the plan changes the Mortgage Interest Deduction by reducing the amount of mortgage deductibility on families earning over $250,000. This proposed change in the Mortgage Interest Deduction will result in further erosion of home prices and home values. If this proposal is enacted it will lead to a new round of price depreciation, will cause greater distress on the balance sheets of banks as the collateral value of mortgage backed securities declines. A second credit crisis could emerge before the first one is resolved.

It’s hard for me to imagine that the government would be trying to discourage mortgages and home ownership during this housing slump. The administration seems focused on increasing the tax burden on the “rich”, but I think targeting housing markets like Buckhead is a really bad idea. Let’s not forget those families that earn $250,000 a year put a lot of construction people to work, pay a lot of property taxes and keep a lot of banks in business when they buy homes in Buckhead.

Related posts:

1. The phase-out of the mortgage interest deduction
2. Stimulation of housing?
3. Georgia Home Buyer’s Closing Cost Calculator
4. Lack of jumbo mortgages could be hurting Buckhead.
5. Signs of life in the Atlanta housing market