During the last quarter century, mortgage interest deductibility has been gradually phased out. In 1974 a ceiling was set on the size of the mortgage eligible for interest deductibility (oelig;30,000 since 1983) and, beginning in 1993, the maximum rate at which interest under that ceiling could...

Owner-occupied housing is said to be favored in the tax code because mortgage interest and property taxes can be deducted in the computation of one's income tax base in spite of the fact that the returns from owner- occupied housing = not taxed. The special tax treatment reduces the user cost of...