To be fair, people don't have that much control over home values either. The biggest reservation I can think of with housing as an investment is that it's sing

To be fair, people don't have that much control over home values either. The biggest reservation I can think of with housing as an investment is that it's singular in terms of economic sector and geography. With the market people can diversify, although there's no guarantee they will. Being able to leverage a small down payment for a more valuable asset can also be advantageous or disadvantageous depending on what the value of the asset does.