Buying a home is the largest single financial decision
you may ever make. That home may also be one of your best long-term investments.
Despite the longest, strongest
bull market
in history, the average American
built more wealth in the 1990s owning a home than putting money in the
stock market. And, since 2000, as stocks have lost ground, home values
continued to climb. Not only is housing in general an economic powerhouse
in the U.S. — your home is a real, tangible, appreciating asset.
Three things have helped put buying a home within the grasp of 68% of the population:
The
right to refinance without penalty to tap home
equity
Pro-homeownership
tax policies that let you deduct
mortgage
interest
and real estate taxes
The ability to find
mortgages at reasonable rates has been good for individual
borrowers — and good for the economy too. For example,
building just 1,000 homes generates almost 2,500 full-time
jobs, $80 million in wages, and more than $42 million
in federal, state, and local revenues. On average, 1.6
million homes are being built each year. That means 4
million jobs and $128 million in wages. And over the
next decade, the mortgage market is expected to top $16
trillion.
Dwight P. Robinson,
Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations, Freddie Mac
