The first home savings account is helping just who it should - aspiring owners with modest incomes

Almost 740,000 people opened a first home savings account last year, nearly half of them with taxable incomes of $53,359 or less.FHSAs are a small-scale but promising example of government policy aimed at helping middle class young people get into the housing market. You can put up to $8,000 in these accounts each year to a maximum of $40,000. Contributions generate a tax refund, and both contributions and investment gains benefit from tax-free compounding and withdrawals. FHSAs are available to people aged 18 and up who did not own a home in the part of the calendar year before an account is opened or the previous four years.The $40,000 contribution cap is out of synch with the average resale housing price of a bit more than $700,000 in April. But FHSAs are nevertheless helping people with middling incomes build down payments for home purchases well into the future.