Tax Code Rewrite Threatens Homeownership, Rental Housing, and Our Industry

Act NOW!

Write Your Senators at:
www.CapitolConnect.com/BuilderLink

Tell Them:

It is critical that they preserve vital housing tax incentives like the mortgage interest deduction and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit to create jobs and keep the economic recovery moving forward.

What’s at Stake:

The Senate is considering revamping the tax code which could ELIMINATE SOME OR ALL HOUSING TAX INCENTIVES. This could harm the bottom line of all residential construction businesses, depress home values, impose a tax increase on home owners and cause massive layoffs in housing and other industries.

Background:

The Senate Finance Committee recently announced it will consider comprehensive tax reform and initiate proceedings with a blank slate: no exemptions, deductions, or credits. Our industry must pull together to defend the mortgage interest deduction and other critical housing tax incentives.

Many of the tax reform proposals have suggested eliminating or reducing the mortgage interest deduction, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the capital gains exclusion for home sales and the deduction of property taxes, among others. This would DEVASTATE OUR INDUSTRY by depressing home values, which would put countless more home owners underwater and trigger a new wave of foreclosures and layoffs in our industry.

Urge Your Senators to:

Preserve important housing incentives (the mortgage interest deduction, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the capital gains exclusion for home sales, and the deduction of property taxes) in the tax code.

How to Contact Your Senators:

Write them at www.CapitolConnect.com/BuilderLink

Act NOW!

Koa Ridge is Moving Forward

From Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii

Koa Ridge E-Newsletter - July 10, 2013

Today, the City & County of Honolulu Planning Commission unanimously approved Castle & Cooke's Koa Ridge project in Central Oahu. This approval allows us to move forward with the City rezoning process and brings us one step closer to delivering another quality master planned community for Hawaii.

At Castle & Cooke, we continue to believe that there is a great need for new housing choices, and Koa Ridge will provide homeownership opportunities, built by Hawaii workers, for Hawaii families. Koa Ridge will be a dynamic multi-generational, multi-cultural community - and we are excited to be moving forward with this project!

We would also like to say MAHALO to the many individuals and organizations that have supported Koa Ridge over the years, including our Visioning Team Members. We appreciate your commitment, dedication and collaboration and we look forward to continue working with you in the future.

The next step for Castle & Cooke is to present Koa Ridge to the full City Council, and we anticipate doing so within the next few months. If you would like more information or have questions on Koa Ridge, please visit our website or contact Laura Kodama via e-mail or at(808) 548-4825.

Mahalo!

Castle & Cooke Hawaii

Home Ownership and Politics: What’s at Stake

By: Karen T. Nakamura, CEO
Building Industry Association of Hawaii

Now that the dust has settled from the elections, Congress will be turning its attention to the debate over housing policy. 

Thanks to national policy that has acknowledged the importance of the home in American family life for almost a century, generations of Americans have counted on their homes for their children’s education, their own retirement and a personal sense of accomplishment.

But despite the fact that most Americans want change that will mend the housing market, create jobs and boost the overall economy, policymakers are proposing radical changes that threaten the dream of home ownership for millions of current and future Americans.

The policies that are being considered could negatively impact Americans’ ability to buy a first home, keep their current home or enter into the move-up market.

Mortgage Interest Deduction

Eliminating or limiting the mortgage interest deduction would impose a huge tax increase on millions of middle-class home owners and discourage prospective buyers. Changing the deduction would cause after-tax housing costs to increase, and housing demand to decrease.

Reduced demand would depress home prices, producing a sizable loss for existing home owners, leave more home owners underwater and fuel even more foreclosures. Such a change in home values could weaken the economic recovery and perhaps drive the nation’s economy back into recession.

Mandating 20 Percent Down Payments

The national Qualified Residential Mortgage standard that is being proposed by federal agencies would require a minimum 20 percent downpayment and other stricter qualifications, which would keep homeownership out of reach for most first-time home buyers and middleclass households. According to National Association of Home Builders estimates, it would take 12 years for the typical family to save enough money for a 20 percent downpayment on a median-priced single-family home. Other research has found it would take even longer.

Creditworthy Borrowers Denied Home Ownership Opportunities

Even though there is pent up demand for homes in many parts of the country, the construction or sale of which would create jobs and support local economies, lenders are not making loans to qualified home buyers. Creditworthy borrowers are being prevented from buying homes by overly restrictive lending standards which is slowing the housing recovery and hurting the economic recovery.

Restoring the flow of credit to qualified home buyers will boost the housing market, help put America back to work, and strengthen the economic health of communities across the country by providing tax revenues that local governments need to fund schools, police and firefighters.

Just as each home is important to the family that owns it, housing is vitally important to local, state and national economies. It is critical that homeownership remains attainable and that access to safe, decent and affordable housing remains a national priority.

For more information on the impact of housing and home ownership, go to www.biahawaii.org or email info@biahawaii.org or www.protecthomeownership.com.