Great reasons to purchase a HOME

Home equity provides wealth.
Home equity is a more uniformly distributed form of wealth accumulation than any other asset. And, home equity is used to expand small businesses, educate children, pay medical costs, and fund retirement. As of 2007, 53 percent of families owned retirement accounts, 18 percent owned stocks, and 69 percent owned a home. For these homeowners, home equity and household wealth is built by paying down mortgage principal and through normal increases in value. The tax benefits of homeownership, including the mortgage interest deduction, are also beneficial, particularly for recent, younger home buyers, who pay more interest as a share of income. So while renting remains an important option for younger or more mobile households, homeownership is an engine of wealth creation for most households.

Homeownership generates social benefits.
Research studies in economics and other disciplines have shown homeownership increases civic participation, improves childhood outcomes, and increases the value of close-by properties. These social benefits of homeownership spill over and improve the economic and social conditions of neighborhoods with concentrations of homeowners. Homeowner property taxes are the primary revenue source for most local governments, and finance schools and other local services.
Over enthusiasm and faith in continued double-digit housing appreciation fed the housing boom until bad decisions on the part of buyers, lenders, investors, and raters brought the party to an end. But recent discussion questioning the benefits of homeownership is exaggerated and at odds with the facts positioning homeownership’s central place in our society. It would be a mistake to conclude otherwise.

Source:http://www.builderonline.com/business/homeownerships-future.aspx#