To me, this is like pointing out that car ownership is a lousy investment: it may be true, but it seems beside the point. If I want to have a car that I'm planning to hang onto for a long time, and which I can do whatever I want with, I want to buy a car instead of leasing it. Sure, I won't make money that way, and I might even come out ahead financially if I were to lease, but then it isn't my car, it belongs to someone else, and there are going to be a bunch of rules associated with that. To me, owning a house is the same thing, but with the added bonus that there is actually a chance of making some money. But that's purely a bonus; comparing it with buying stocks or bonds seems ...odd to me.