[adventured]

I disagree. The US is the world's most valuable real estate market overall; it's a massive market when it comes to home owners; and it's extremely liquid as far as real estate markets go, with not only a very large number of buyers and sellers but also a massive financial engine behind it (critical for buying and selling).

It's clearly a perfectly good use of money. It has assisted the US in acquiring a median net wealth as high as Germany, while having four times the population, a very challenging feat.

[pcrh]

The major part of the value of domestic (as opposed to commercial) property is that of the land on which it sits, this is a non-productive use of that land (i.e. the land per se doesn't produce anything, unlike in agriculture). The money in domestic real estate would be put to better use if it were instead invested in enterprises that produced goods or services.