Every house I've ever owned has (a) cost way less per month than rent (I know it will cost less, but I mean on the order of nearly 50% less) and (b) appreciated

Every house I've ever owned has (a) cost way less per month than rent (I know it will cost less, but I mean on the order of nearly 50% less) and (b) appreciated enough after a short time that it made a sale worth it. The first house we owned appreciated by about $25k in 2 years, and the house we're in now (according to comps we just ran as we're preparing to sell) has appreciated about $80k+ in 3 years. You can make smart property choices, even for the home you occupy (i.e., not just rental properties). But "smart" includes evaluating all the criteria. If you live in an area with a ridiculous property market (e.g., the Bay Area) or a very, very slow one, then the investment isn't as enticing. I'm blessed to live in a market with a lot of movement for a variety of reasons, not just being a "hot" area to live in, but others are not so much. I'm also blessed to work remotely, so I can choose to live in an area like this. :) tl;dr: this is probably true in a lot of America, but it's not universal by any means.