[dagw]

As an American, Canadians are insane for buying into this system.

As a European, the US mortgage system combined with very generous tax-deductible interest rules, is probably one of the most generous and property owner friendly system around. As a property (and mortgage) owner myself, I'm very envious of it.

That being said, had I been a renter in the US I would probably be very upset about how much tax payer money is going to support home owners.

[throwaway2037]

    very generous tax-deductible interest rules

There is a lot of economic research around the second order impact of these tax deductions. Do they, in fact, increase the cost of homes? There is _some_ evidence that says yes, so the tax deduction is offset by higher purchase price.

[frumper]

The standard deduction is now taken close to 90% of the time in the US. Most people no longer benefit from the mortgage interest on their taxes.

[psunavy03]

The standard deduction has been significantly increased in the US recently. Mortgage interest is often not worth itemizing unless you're in a high cost of living area or have a big house elsewhere.