Comments on: Taxpayers Crushed by the Destructive Push for Home Ownership

By: Mr. ToughMoneyLove

Mr. ToughMoneyLove — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 05:51:45 +0000

@JB: Don’t get me wrong – I am a proponent of home ownership but not for folks who have marginal finances. Those are the people that the government targeted with its initiatives and threats to lenders.

@Praveen: I would tend to agree with you about the flippers and speculators but that doesn’t explain the 6% increase in homeownership rates by U.S. households. That increase closely coincides with the failure rates we are experiencing.

By: Praveen

Praveen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 05:33:21 +0000

I don’t think the government trying to expand home ownership to groups that traditionally rented (such as minorities) was the main culprit.

I think most of the damage was caused by house flippers and speculators in places like California, Nevada, and Florida.

In fact, Florida was the location of an infamous real estate boom and bust from 1924-1926. The difference is that, back then, Wall Street wasn’t linked up through the repackaging of mortgages as securities.

By: JB

JB — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:09:40 +0000

Doesn’t home ownership help fight against the declining home affordability?

I bought a house this year that’s just a bit of a stretch, however I am guaranteed that rate for the next 30 years. That has to be worth something. As a renter you never know what the market could do (especially in today’s economy!)… maybe rental prices shoot up 200% in the next 5-10 years. I still have my home paying the same amount.