Today’s news shines a light on two separate issues that don’t get that much attention by the public: the mortgage interest deduction and the Livable Communities Act.
The New York Times Business Section has a great piece on the mortgage interest deduction. The article notes that in 2009, according to the Congressional Budget Office, government subsidies for housing amounted to a staggering $230 billion … and most of those subsidies went to higher income households! Among the questions the article asks is:
“Why should the government help me buy a second home? Why should it subsidize a refinancing?”
and it points out that:
“The communities that survived the housing bubble the best were the ones that had the highest percentage of renters.”
Check out the article, “Wake Up Time for a Dream.”
And, today’s Star-Tribune includes a “Commentary” by Tim Thompson of the Housing Preservation Project. In the piece, “Affordable housing takes a hit in the metro”, Thompson notes that the Met Council took a step backward by lowering the goals for how much affordable housing Twin Cities communities should produce.
The point of these goals should be to encourage cities to use local tools — density bonuses, accelerated permitting, other developer incentives — to squeeze more affordability out of the public resources we’re getting.
With falling incomes, one has to wonder where households of low- and modest-means are going to live?
