Houses can definitely be an investment and only increase with inflation. If I buy a house as an investment, I get rent every month. If the house appreciates 0%,

Houses can definitely be an investment and only increase with inflation. If I buy a house as an investment, I get rent every month. If the house appreciates 0%, it could still be a good investment if the rent is good enough returns. Your premise only holds true if you buy a house and keep it empty, and are only getting returns by the appreciation of the property, but this should be illegal anyway.