The U.S. housing boom has been on an eight-year run, defying the law of economic gravity. Interest rates have hovered at or below historic lows since 1998.

Why have record numbers of homebuyers, now at 69.1 percent of Americans, bought a home? Why are nearly 35 percent of Americans buying second and third homes?

The short answer is there is currently no better place to invest, and there are several reasons why.

A home’s value is something that the homeowner can somewhat control. By properly selecting, maintaining and updating a home, a homeowner can directly impact its desirability to the marketplace.

Record low interest rates have allowed more people to become homebuyers. With low interest loans, homebuyers can leverage bigger or more expensive homes.

But the most compelling reason to own a home is the tax benefits, which may be more responsible in fueling the housing boom year after year than any other single reason.

In fact, you can almost date the housing boom to the passing of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, signed into law by President Clinton.

One of the areas affected by the law is housing, where huge profits gained by the sale of personal residences are exempted by meeting easy qualifications. Sellers must have owned and use the home as their principal residence for two of the last five years before the home is sold. Married couples filing jointly can exclude up to $500,000 in capital gains and singles can exclude up to $250,000.

Exclusions of $125,000 gains were once open only to those aged 55 and over. Home sellers could avoid paying capital gains only if they rolled over the profits into another home. Understandably, in this era, there was less relocation and only the wealthy could afford second homes.

With the advent of low interest and low down payment loans, homebuyers are able to purchase property with little down and relatively little invested during the life of the loan.

Compare that to buying stock, and it’s easy to see why so many investors are turning to housing. When a person buys $100,000 worth of stock, they pay $100,000, and that stock is subject to a number of variables that push it up and down, from the whims of daytraders, to the integrity of its management, to its competition, to world, national and local news.

But a $100,000 home can be financed up to 100 percent, and even beyond. Even if a home only appreciates at the rate of inflation, a low three percent annually, in five years, it’s worth 15 percent more than it was. That means that the payments are roughly equal to the property gains from inflation. By the time the home owner deducts his mortgage interest rate and property taxes, he’s lived in the home essentially for free.

And that’s before any capital gains on the sale of the home.

Will the boom last? The Mortgage Bankers Association says interest rates on fixed 30-year mortgages rose to their highest level since March, but they are still well under six percent.

Most mortgage experts say rates are still attractive, and that homebuyer benefits more than outweigh a boost in rates. In fact, demand for purchase loans was up for the first time in four weeks, after five weeks of slowly rising rates.

That's because homes are doing a lot better than appreciating at the rate of inflation. Fannie Mae says that home prices increased at a 16.5 percent annualized rate in the second quarter and are now up over 14 percent year-over-year.

It would take an act of Congress to overturn the Tax Relief Act of 1997, so home buyers are taking advantage and enjoying the benefits. As long as the math works as well as it does now, home ownership will continue to thrive and dominate the U.S. economy.

Published: August 9, 2005

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.