College tax credits, tax deductions for charitable contributions, mortgage interest, home equity loan interest, and other popular write offs will likely be reduced or eliminated.

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Wholesale lenders competed aggressively for market share by undercutting the banks and creating sexy new mortgage products like home-equity, interest-only and low-documentation loans.

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An analysis by Jan Hatzius, an economist at Goldman Sachs in New York, shows that the pace of mortgage equity withdrawal depends on changes in interest rates and house prices, not on their levels.

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The implication is that it would require continued rapid gains in house prices and continued falls in interest rates to sustain the pace of mortgage equity withdrawal at current levels.

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Also have a 15 year mortgage at 5% interest with plenty of equity in the house.

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With the mortgage interest deduction in place, both sources of housing finance, debt and equity, get a tax preference.

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It will use the money it raises to offer mortgage products where borrowers do not pay interest in return for handing over a slice of their equity to the firm.

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And the housing market remains strong, with the lowest interest rates for 40 years encouraging many people to re-mortgage their homes and withdraw some of the equity to finance spending.

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