Your grandparents are the exceptional case (in the US, anyway). The vast majority of homeowners here change homes multiple times in their life (IIRC, once a dec

Your grandparents are the exceptional case (in the US, anyway). The vast majority of homeowners here change homes multiple times in their life (IIRC, once a decade or so). One of the big advantages of a system like the US (unlike, say, Japan, where homes are a depreciating asset) is that it increases mobility. If your home is worth less than the day you moved in, you're kind of stuck there -- every move represents a capital outlay that is just going to evaporate over time. In the US system, a home is a little like a fixed-income asset. Even if it only appreciates at the rate of inflation, you can treat it as a stable store of wealth. Even if you purchase one home in your entire life, it's still a positive in this system. As others have pointed out already, you can borrow against that wealth, or, in the case of your grandparents, pass it down to heirs. Accumulating wealth is better than not accumulating wealth.