All good points Bev, and we don't disagree. We've been spoiled by pro-home ownership tax laws in the US for nearly 60 years; and that's a hard habit to break and easy to see it becoming a middle-class entitlement. Even so, I fully agree that buying a house can be done without the tax deductions. Interesting enough, I see that negative-gearing rental property is the big tax loop-hole in Oz. Guess I'll just have to buy a family home and a rental to break even

Best regards,
Ric