[kasey_junk]

The bigger win is the government subsidies and tax breaks.

You need very little on hand cash to get a very low interest rate. Much lower than asset loans at equivalent levels of wealth.

[pitpatagain]

There is little tax break for home ownership currently with the SALT cap + high standard deduction. You get some break if you have a large enough mortgage or high enough interest rate but it has been very nerfed.

[FooBarBizBazz]

I know SALT went away, but there's still 1031 exchanges, which mean that "capital gains" can be tax free, which is a big deal in an inflationary environment. So long as the government keeps printing money (which it will), there's a de-facto wealth tax that only real estate avoids.