Canada doesn't have HIMD.  Canada's home-ownership rates are indistinguishable from those in the US.

Save the world: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 5% annually.

Why not eliminate the HIMD for properties that are deemed environmentally wasteful based on their size or location?  

Why not continue to use HIMD to ensure there is something remotely resembling a middle class in the United States -- which I believe is one of the reasons it exists -- and not using it to restrict development?

Once it is eliminated for some property and used only to encourage "responsible" home building, it will become another tool for large businesses and lobbyists to line their pockets. Who will define "responsible" building? There will be all sorts of exceptions added to the tax code. And it will reduce local control over development patterns.

We have something called "zoning". Check it out. My community restricts new contruction to no more than one house per 35 acres. That is, a farmer can carve out a lot and sell it for residential construction, but cannot put 160 houses on a 40-acre parcel. Furthermore, only ag related businesses are permitted. It is supported by the majority of the residents.

Take care of yourselves. Find ways to convince your neighbors that your vision of your community is a good idea and pass appropriate zoning regulations. Change starts at home.

Were it not for the HIMD, we would not have been able to purchase our 1100-1200 square foot home -- not an urban, suburban, or rural home, no house what-so-ever. We would be paying rent for something we would never own. Since our incomes have not kept up with inflation, elimination of the HIMD could actually drive us out of our home.

It is convenient to talk about general trends and creating incentives to change development patterns, but please keep in mind you are talking about real people, who might have their lives destroyed by you ingenious incentives.

Forward!

Home mortgage interest deductions help make energy upgrades like improved insulation, engineered HVAC, solar hot water and PV systems affordable.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

I'm pretty sure the interest on a home equity loan is deductible as long as the loans is used for improving one's house. And that is definitely an incentive for someone who is sitting on the fence regarding better windows, insulation, or perhaps even a photovoltaic system.

Forward!

Like many government programs that go on for too long, this program no longer serves its original intent. That purpose was to make home ownership more affordable so that more Americans could own a home.

But now this program subsidizes the purchase of wasteful high end housing,  second homes, and even upscale boats that qualify as second homes, not to mention the home equity loans that are so often used purely for more consumption.

In addition, this deduction inflates the real estate market, and puts low income buyers at a double disadvantage because their tax break is so much smaller than the one enjoyed by wealthy people.

What we should do is figure out a sensible transition and make this go away.