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Re:Entire German bond yield curve back in sub-zero territory by legulere on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @10:21AM (#28049520)
But if the asset bubble bursts and your home loses most worth.
Re:Entire German bond yield curve back in sub-zero territory by poooogles on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @10:28AM (#28049608)
>But if the asset bubble bursts and your home loses most worth.

Luckily the primary function of a home is to provide shelter. You don't have to worry about being out on the street if you're unemployed (pending you can afford local taxes).

Re:Entire German bond yield curve back in sub-zero territory by pjc50 on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @10:43AM (#28049790)
Sibling comment gets it: regardless of everything else, you must "consume" housing, either as a capital good or in rent. Home ownership insulates you from shocks to the rental market.

It's possible that the house price falls by 10%. It is very, very unlikely that rents will crash by 10%; they're sticky, at best you'll see a very slow slide over years.

Re:Entire German bond yield curve back in sub-zero territory by est31 on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @11:13AM (#28050172)
Yes, you must consume housing. But if you can't pay off your mortgage in a reasonable time frame (10-15 years), "owning" it doesn't give you any security, at least against sudden job loss. If house prices crash and you lose your job, you might be kicked out of your rented apartment, but that's it. At least here in Germany, if you were in the same situation as home owner, you'd lose your house and have to pay back the debt resulting from the lower house prices (unless you file for bankruptcy).
Re:Entire German bond yield curve back in sub-zero territory by cesarb on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @11:50AM (#28050669)
> But if you can't pay off your mortgage in a reasonable time frame (10-15 years), "owning" it doesn't give you any security, at least against sudden job loss.

If you're still paying your mortgage, do you really own your home?

Re:Entire German bond yield curve back in sub-zero territory by wallacoloo on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @12:18PM (#28051030)
> If you're still paying your mortgage, do you really own your home?

You own your home in this scenario just as much as the entity on the other side of the equation owns the income stream from your mortgage.

A mortgage is a collateralized loan. You agree to give up ownership of your collateral if you fail to meet the terms of you contract. So yes, you own the home now, subject to constraints.

Ownership is almost always subject to some constraints. Nobody says “do you own your home even though you can be taken out of it (and jailed) if you refuse to pay taxes on it?” even though that’s arguably a more extreme condition upon your ownership. While I am sympathetic to conversation about the broader meaning of ownership, this “mortgage => !ownership” thing is a tired meme.

Re:Entire German bond yield curve back in sub-zero territory by WanderPanda on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @12:14PM (#28050982)
You're right the bank owns your life, your ability to create value. What a terrible place to be in