You are correct, of course. My point was more about how journalists too often spout "PRICES DOUBLED!" to get attention like blood in the water, including here.

You are correct, of course. My point was more about how journalists too often spout "PRICES DOUBLED!" to get attention like blood in the water, including here. And, in too many cases, it's over a time period that's 10+ years, so it's not really doubling, but 6%/year. And, yes, leverage can profit, but it can bite hard too. Plenty of people bought at $500k with $100k down, then saw the value drop to $300k, meaning they lost 200+100 = $300k if they had to sell. All fun math, with, yes, GROSS simplifications here.