Well you can rent and put the savings (vs owning a home) into a variety of vehicles for retirement savings. Many, many people have shown that this actually yiel

Well you can rent and put the savings (vs owning a home) into a variety of vehicles for retirement savings. Many, many people have shown that this actually yields far more significant returns than the house. But people are not perfectly rational economic actors. There is something innate (or deeply culturally embedded) about wanting to have control over your living space, so it becomes the primary savings vehicle for many/most people.