The math in the article seems wonky and oversimplified to support the author's viewpoint. It seems the writer doesn't have enough perspective as the answer to

The math in the article seems wonky and oversimplified to support the author's viewpoint. It seems the writer doesn't have enough perspective as the answer to the question of whether a house is a good investment has to do with which house you buy in which market at which time. Some houses in some areas are bad buys at some times. Lots of other houses in lots of other areas are good buys at other times. The author completely glosses over: - Land space near powerful economic areas is finite - No one will let you build infinite new houses if it requires you making them sell and move off the land they already own - The article makes it out like you could pay the same rent your whole life and/or stay in the same place all that time. That's unlikely, smart landlords are always going to raise prices as much as they can, not overspend on anything to do with services, and will decide to not renew your lease if they decide you're not worth it. - The math about a $700k house versus a $2900/month mortgage is highly suspect. $2900 is not renting much of a house in an area where a house is $700k. $700k here will get you a modest older house. $2900 will rent a studio in my area. (Expensive area). There are many 2 bedroom apartments going for $5000/month. I've been in my house 13 years and my mortgage payment has gone down 3x as interest rates fell and we were able to re-finance. The last apartment I was renting has more than doubled in rent in the last 13 years. It is 2.5x what the mortgage on the house is, and the house is 4x the size of the apartment and we actually own land. - Nailing down a fixed rate mortgage with a payment that doesn't rise versus ever ascending rent means you can actually save money to invest in other things if you're smart and diversify your assets. Not all of us are going to see what the Baby Boomers saw. But owning a house is still a way to get ahead of peers. Certainly smarter than burning massive money on expensive cars every few years and lots of the other excessive spending that happens. You have to keep in mind the returns the baby boomers got were due to massive changes in the economy and interest rates over their lifetime. Boomers bought their starter homes sometimes with 15-20% interest rates back in the 1970s. Those sky high interest rates were what kept house prices so low back then. Population growth & density in the areas they bought in made land scarce while interest rates fell to nothing so it was natural for prices to skyrocket.