Does the home mortgage interest deduction support the policy objective of encouraging home ownership?

¹⁵ One central policy objective attributed to the home mortgage interest deduction is to encourage home ownership. See Joint Comm. on Taxation, 100th Cong., General Explanation of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, at 263-64 (1987) ("Encouraging home ownership is an important policy goal, achieved in part by providing a deduction for residential mortgage interest."); S. Rep. No. 99-313, at 804 (1986) (same); H.R. Rep. No. 99-426, at 297 (1985) (same); see also Fid. Int'l Currency Advisor A Fund, LLC v. United States , 747 F.Supp.2d 49, 69 (D. Mass. 2010) ("A taxpayer may buy a house with a mortgage in order to take advantage of the deductibility of mortgage interest.").