[mattnewport]

I wonder why people are ok with buying. For most people buying a house is a bad investment. Unless you're very wealthy a house is going to represent a big chunk of your net worth which means you're not going to have a diversified portfolio and you're going to be borrowing money to buy it. Few ordinary investors would contemplate making a highly leveraged investment in the stock market but seem to think it becomes a good idea with housing.

Historically housing also tends to underperform the stock market when you take all costs into account (taxes, maintenance, strata fees, etc.). It's also a highly illiquid asset and tends to correlate with economic conditions (e.g. in an economic downturn you risk losing your job and facing a negative equity trap to move to find another one).

Some people derive enjoyment from owning their own home and if that's the case then maybe the financial downsides still make sense for them. For me I'd rather not have any of the hassles involved with home ownership and let my landlord deal with them. Personally owning a house seems like an unappealing prospect and it would have to be not just a neutral financial decision but a heavily net positive one for me to consider it.