The difference is you could have lived in that house or rented it out and created additional income. In the book 'Ascent of Money' Niall Ferguson does a breakdo

The difference is you could have lived in that house or rented it out and created additional income. In the book 'Ascent of Money' Niall Ferguson does a breakdown on the housing market in London vs investing in the stock market through index funds and shows how housing really was one of the better investments. It's worth checking out the book for that section. The issue I see is that hindsight is always 20-20 so even if housing was the better investment in the past, I still wouldn't want most of my savings/wealth to be invested in an asset that isn't very liquid and is susceptible to swings in the market. However, if you buy in a place like London or San Francisco those swings are probably only minor setbacks if you're in it for the long haul.