It would be a huge impediment to upward mobility among working class people if we, as a nation, downgraded the importance of homeownership. Before I go any further, let me make a few things clear. I’m not one of those people who hate renting. I have lived in rental housing for virtually my entire life, and it has suited me just fine. I didn’t own a home until 5 years ago. I have nothing against renting, and believe it is the right choice for anyone who makes that choice. It’s also the right choice for anyone who can’t really afford to buy a home.

Affordable rental options must remain an important part of creating prosperity for low and moderate income workers. But I believe that homeownership is an especially powerful sparkpoint for Americans. Particularly for moderate income workers who do homeownership right - with fixed rate, long term financing, and a realistic plan to pay the full cost of ownership.

Achieving the dream of homeownership is the kind of life-changing experience that galvanizes people of modest means to continue driving toward successes that had previously seemed impossible - like graduating from college, or beginning to save for retirement for the first time ever. In the case of homeownership, there are also strong corollary benefits - it can lead to greater civic participation, and it seeds economic success for the children who live in homes owned by their parents.

Have you noticed the growing chorus around the nation, questioning whether homeownership should still be the cornerstone of the American Dream? It would be tragic if the institution of homeownership were the baby thrown out with the particularly fetid bathwater brewed by the mortgage mess.

Should renting really be the new American dream?

How the engine of homeownership ought to be built, and ought to run is one of our most important national conversations. I don’t propose to have the answers to these questions here. I’m just making a case to keep ownership as one of our cornerstones for prosperity. I certainly agree that we need to align the carrots and sticks of policy and market power properly, so we don’t drive people to make poor choices when it comes to buying homes.

But let’s not move all the carrots toward renting. For millions of Americans who have moved into the middle class, homeownership was the catalyst in a formula for creating multi-generational prosperity for families. Success begets success. And the success of homeownership led millions of these folks to make choices they would not have had they not owned homes.

When done properly (and it can be done well. EARN, and groups like us, have astonishingly low foreclosure rates among our clients - far smaller than the national average) homeownership helps grow aspiration. It can make other dreams come into focus for folks who buy homes - especially people experiencing upward mobility for the first time.

What do you think? Do you believe in this formula I’m arguing for, or do you think this is just alchemy? Make your voice heard by voting in the poll below. As usual, I promise to blog on the results!