As things turned out it is obviously both, although the investment side was not guaranteed and most people start out just having a place to live. Some people wh

As things turned out it is obviously both, although the investment side was not guaranteed and most people start out just having a place to live. Some people who were first time buyers at the peak of the subprime crisis in 2007 lost out when their investment went underwater (owe more on the mortgage than the house is worth). However for 95% of homebuyers over the last 50 years it has been the best investment they made. There was a time in the mid-90s when the catch phrase was that "my home earns more than I do."