Which is why taking on debt to buy property is often a good option - you lock in prices, then they rise. Where I live, house prices double in value every ten ye

Which is why taking on debt to buy property is often a good option - you lock in prices, then they rise. Where I live, house prices double in value every ten years, quite reliably. Recently, it's been faster. In ten years, you're paying rent on a $2m property while someone else is paying down a $500-800k loan (using your example figure).