What you posted is true, real estate may not give you the greatest financial returns available--although it's been very good for my spouse and myself, both here and in the US. What you don't mention is that a home is something different than a savings bond, a stock certificate, X amount of gold, etc. A home is where we spend the majority of our precious time. And, as you get older, time becomes even more precious. We see our property as a home first, an investment second. We don't want to spend our precious time in someone else's space--it's just too important to us--the space we live in. And no, moving a better mattress and a better tv and a better refrigerator and a better--for us it's a long list--into a rental space doesn't hack it--it's still someone else's space, not ours. We rented once and hated it. It gives my spouse and I great pleasure to create our living spaces--and we need to own to have the freedom to do the sometimes major things that we do. We would, and do, buy even though we know we might lose some money on a property. It's still worth it for us--and we never have, by the way. There are always choices with what you do with your money. A Toyota Yaris will get you from Point A to Point B. For some, it's a perfectly ok choice for that function. But, for some others, they would rather spend their money on a luxury vehicle, knowing going in that on paper it's a bad investment and luxury vehicles depreciate more than any other vehicles. For them, a luxury car is worth it, same as a property we own is worth it for us. We're probably both murmuring under our breath, 'You only go around once in life.' Or, maybe, 'The heart wants what it wants.' At least we skipped the very bad investment of a depreciating luxury car and bought a Bangkok getaway condo instead, which is slightly appreciating. It should always be mentioned, and I certainly try to, that investing in property or other investments needn't be either/or--even though it always seems to be presented that way. "If you had done this instead of that..." We have always done 'this' and 'that'. We have property but we also have a stock portfolio, several mutual funds, and cash--something about eggs and baskets.
