[goodpoint]

Buying a house to live in it is fulfilling a crucial basic need.

It's extremely different from an investment in many ways. If the value of a house goes up spending a day in it does not feel any different.

If someone offers you a lot of money for it you can sell it but you still have to buy or rent another one. Very very few people want to have a lot of cash but live under a bridge.

[worik]

> Buying a house to live in it is fulfilling a crucial basic need.

Absolutely.

> It's extremely different from an investment in many ways

That is not so true, and is part of the problem, in two ways.

(1) People are buying properties to live in at one stage in their lives, when they have high incomes, or prospect of high incomes, thinking they will sell when they are older and make a large profit they will use to fund their retirement. This drives up prices and drives out people with lower incomes.

(2) The above is part of the cause of the housing bubble. Also driven by increasing populations. As that bubble goes the way of all bubbles, especially as population decline sets in, those people get to retirement with an asset that is not worth anything like what they expected. This will cause a lot of impoverishment (some actual poverty too) amongst a lot of those older people

Yes. We all need somewhere to live. Also most of us (those who have incomes) need a place to save.

It is a problem that the two things are confused now.

[goodpoint]

> We all need somewhere to live. Also most of us (those who have incomes) need a place to save.

The first is a crucial need, the second is a want.

> It is a problem that the two things are confused now.

Yes, that's what I meant. And when they mix together the investment market takes over because it drive prices above the house-as-necessity market. Which translates into: houses are taken away from people who need shelter and give to people with money to invest.