There is currently a big debate over the virtues of home ownership versus renting. For generations, Americans have valued home ownership as the “American Dream”. After all, the virtues of home ownership were extolled throughout the beloved film “It’s A Wonderful Life”. Quaint, Bedford Falls and the Bailey’s Savings and Loan afforded middle class families their very own homes. The alternative reality where George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) had never been born showed, by contrast, a tawdry existence in a town filled with sleazy bars and pawn shops where the townspeople rented their homes and were beholden to the usurious Henry Potter.
The recent housing crisis has many wondering if home ownership is overrated. Decades of policies designed to foster home ownership are being questioned in the wake of the real estate bubble and collapse. Should there really be taxpayer support for giant mortgage agencies, and should individual home ownership be promoted by offering tax incentives?
Many now dismiss the concept that areas with a disproportionately high rate of rental properties leads to cultural or social decline. In fact, as the demand for rental properties has grown (much in part to the fact that many people cannot afford or qualify to purchase a home), rentals have come to be much nicer in general, with urban or suburban communities seemingly uncompromised by their presence.
In the past decade or two, the workforce has become much more mobile. To successfully own a home, one has to be “stable”, and live in one place for at least five to ten years. This simply isn’t the norm for a larger segment of society due to the nature of their employment and/or the market. » Read more: Housing: To Own Or Rent?
