7. Home ownership remains at the core of the American Dream

A recent Fanny Mae study reveals that the majority of Americans still aspire to own a home – and for good reason. Owning a home is critical to financial stability and wealth building. A home serves as a forced savings and provides a solid asset as well as a place to live. Despite the recent market upheaval, the vast majority of Americans still consider home ownership to be important to the economy and preferable to renting. Since the end of World War II, promoting home ownership has been high on the list of the federal government's priorities, and will continue to be so.

As the graph below point out, the rent vs buy equation needs to also take into account that rents are subject increased every year, and mortgage payments remained fixed throughout the life of the loan*. Another key factor is in the affordability picture is the federal tax deductibility of mortgage interest, which amounts to an annual savings of thousands of dollars for the average homeowner.