Believe it or not, I’m delighted that our Moron-In-Chief’s commission on simplifying taxes has considered slashing the Mortgage deduction. This brings me no end of happiness.
This is not because I want to see all my home-owning friends suffer, but because the housing market is just out of control. The National Association of Realtors, a totally disinterested group, says the change would have “a devastating effect on the nation’s housing economy.” Good. The housing economy is currently ridiculous.
The NAR’s claim is that housing prices would drop by 15%. Considering that a reasonable single family home in Newburyport sells for between $450 and $550 thousand, this would bring the prices down to a mere $382 to $467 thousand.