It is speculative for the simple reason that the land value may not increase over the long term. I live in Washington, D.C., which could very well lose a subst

It is speculative for the simple reason that the land value may not increase over the long term. I live in Washington, D.C., which could very well lose a substantial portion of its population permanently. I suspect we will be underwater on our mortgage at some point in the next few years, and would be surprised if in the next ten we experienced any increase in wealth attributable to buying rather than renting.