[pseudometa]

This is somewhat similar to how nearly all of the middle-class buy houses... by the time they finish paying off their mortgage they've spent twice as much as the original list price. At least with homes, there is a chance for property to increase in value.

[aliston]

The home itself is fundamentally a depreciating asset as well. I think theres a reasonable argument to be made that the perception of real estate as an asset with increasing value is largely inflated by 30 years of increased leverage, decreasing interest rates, longer loan terms and decreased lending standards. Back in the 1950s, the average loan-to-value on a home was about 50%. Somehow it has since become standard to leverage yourself 5:1 on a home purchase, which for any other asset class would be kind of nuts!

[dingaling]

> by the time they finish paying off their mortgage they've spent twice as much as the original list price.

Mortgages are the cheapest loans available to the public, so I don't see much of an alternative.

Most folk will never be able to save enough to buy outright with 'cash', since they would have to pay to live somewhere whilst saving. Essentially that's lost money.