SE Minnesota Real Estate News

Topic Summary: What's on the minds of voters when it comes to tax incentives for home ownership?

We all know that Washington is looking for ways to trim the deficit and cut programs. One of the targets this coming year is sure to be the most cherished deduction for many homeowners, the mortgage interest deduction.

Being in an election season, voters are now making up their minds about their own situation and are expressing their views found in two recent surveys. In the first survey from the National Association of Home Builders, nearly three out of four American voters believe that it is reasonable and appropriate for the federal government to provide tax incentives to promote home ownership. This finding is shared almost equally across partisan lines, Democratic, Republican or Independent.

When it comes to support or lack of support for a candidate the survey uncovered: "By a more than two-to-one margin (57 percent to 26 percent), voters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supports eliminating the mortgage interest deduction. These figures held firm across the political spectrum, with 63 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of Independents, 55 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of tea party supporters saying they would be less likely to support a candidate who favored killing the deduction."

As to the "status" of home ownership as it relates to the American Dream, the polling data also shows:

• 75 percent of voters say that owning a home is the best long-term investment they can make.
• 73 percent of voters who do not now own a home say that it is a goal of theirs to eventually buy a home.