Quote:
Originally Posted by MacMan
Mortgage interest isn't tax deductible in Canada, I know that much. Plus isn't it true in the US you can get a loan for a house and only pay the interest as your payments - and nothing towards your principle?
I saw something on the news a few months ago about housing sales and how they are falling in the US, along with forclosures and they were talking about interest rates and how people are buying these huge expensive houses they wouldn't normally be able to afford only because the way the banks are working their mortgages with interest payments only or something like that..
|
The amount of foreclosures is up and some of the major markets are slowing. However, I read somewhere that even with the slowing of the market and the foreclosures (which could be due to a myriad of reasons - remember, the US allows one to discharge almost all their unsecured debt and still keep their house in a bankruptcy if they can still afford the payment) -- the amount of gain in the real estate market is still significant. I think much of the trouble is that people get 100% + loans and never pay them down. It takes time for property to appreciate to cover that excess even in the US market of the last ten years.