Also many don’t consider the impact of the higher standard deduction.

Many don't even know HOW to consider it!

Only if your mortgage deduction combined with other allowed itemized deduction exceeds the standard deduction, do you actually get any tax benefit. You should be counting only the itemized deduction exceeding the standard deduction and prorating across all itemized deductions to get the true tax savings you realized.

I've tried explaining this so many times to otherwise intelligent people, and even when they "kind of" get it, they don't really get it.

The best results I've gotten in getting people to understand is to run the actual numbers both ways and showing the difference between them. And even then, hen I show someone that their mortgage interest deduction of $34,000 (plus charity of about $6000, plus $10,000 for sales+property tax) is only worth about $4,750 in reduced taxes to them. ($50,000 itemized deduction compared to $30,000 standard deduction in the 22%/24% tax brackets) And even then, after I show the ACTUAL numbers, more than half of the people are doubtful, with many saying "but all the online calculators show different", and more recently, "my mortgage broker says different than this, and he's a professional!", and best of all, "my accountant who does my taxes says ..." Sometimes I just have to give up and surrender to the innumeracy.