A recent study by real estate consultants titled "Survey Reveals People Still Want to Own a Home" finds that "people" still want to own homes. An economist pointed out to me that the study should be titled "Startling result: Survey [of people touring new homes] reveals that people [touring new homes] still want to own a home." Woops.
I can't say that I'm for or against home ownership. It is clear, however, that when conservative Ross Douthat calls out for the end of the "McMansion" subsidy, citing the fact that the rich are defaulting on home loans at twice the rate the rest of Americans are, something has gone awry. The fact that it was the rich that are defaulting might explain the political traction and resolution behind the recently successful mortage settlement. Ross Douthat said it best when he said "they [the rich] know how to game the system."
This is not new. This is the same argument that Will Staley writes on Next American City. In fact, he continues to show how this type of self-interested system hurts the economy as a whole by reducing capital re-investment in firms effectively reducing their ability to compete and forcing lower wages.
Promoting homeownership as a fundamental right of the American people leads to the creation of things like the McMansion subsidy. This is effectively a government handout to the rich. Rewarding this type of behavior hurts the economy as a whole, for the benefit of a few.