One of the most favorable reasons for owning a home for your personal residence, is the Mortgage Interest and Property Tax deductions you can write off against your income.  Although much of the country can enjoy the full benefit of this deduction, high priced real estate areas where loans exceed $1 million, are limited in the mortgage interest deduction they make take against their income.  Areas such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, where many mortgages are over $1 million, are limited in the amount mortgage interest they can deduct. You are allowed to only take the mortgage interest up to $1 million plus an additional $100,000 “qualified” equity 2nd.  This limitation when combined with historically lower interest rates, while still an attractive reason to own a home, is reducing the effect that it has against your income.  Thankfully, Property Taxes are still fully deductible and at Bay Area prices, this can make for a substantial deduction!   Also, the Alternative Minimum Tax looms out there still!  Check with your own tax consultant for advice as it pertain to you.