This little jewel keeps getting more expensive every year; the former 18/24-month auto loan is now approaching 60 months; auto makers may have had to juggle their inventory a bit from time to time, but when excess inventory was worked through, the succeeding year’s prices would continue to increase, for one reason or another, just like the home building industry. One of the major components of the existing home market price increase is its utilitarian comparison to new construction and its cost increases. Just for comparison, consider a few of the following: a sewer connection for a new home (locally) is about $6-8k whereas it “used” to cost “only” $1k. Now take the water service and meter: that’s up to about (locally) $5-6k. Take drywall, WOW, what a price change that’s been. Take plywood and the like, WOW, again! This scenario can go on, but as we are all affected with price increases, modifications in life mannerisms must change. I find many American ideas coming to pass after I’ve heard about similar concepts being in place in Canada, Asia and Europe. The American way is not always the better way. Think about it….

First off, a few “facts” you left out.

1. Owning a home is not cheaper than renting, especially if you never really own it. Being able to paint the walls purple is nice but it doesn’t override the simple fact that maintaining a home can be expensive and very time consuming. Water heaters wear out, air conditioners break, lawns need mowing, driveways crack, etc. Not to mention the various other expenses that come along with owning a home, like insurance and property taxes and home owners association fees and what seems like a never ending list of people with their hands out.

2. If you own a house and want to move, you have to sell it. That can be a HUGE problem if the property values have dropped. The days of property always appreciating in value are dead and gone. If you rent, you just walk away.

3. The tax break thing is highly overrated. Paying 1000s of dollars a month to a mortgage company so you can save a few hundred on your taxes seems rather backwards to me. Wouldn’t it make more sense to put that money in something that could actually make money instead of just saving a little?

Giving people a way to buy things they can’t afford (because they are priced 10x more than they should be) doesn’t seem like it is fixing the problem, it seems more like it just getting more money out of my pocket and putting it in the pocket of someone else. If we stopped this kind of nonsense, maybe the prices would come down to a sane level and people could, like my parents and grand-parents did, actually own their homes instead of paying eternal homage to the bankers and mortgage companies.

Though a 100 year mortgage provider better not tell its clients how much it will earn during that 100 year period - namely a fortune!