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I bought a few years ago and did the same calculation. Despite prices up 30%, my down payment would have produced higher returns if I had invested it.

Plus stocks are almost immediately liquid and have almost no transaction and no maintenance costs and no annual property tax.

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Did you account for the fact that equity gains in real estate for primary residences in the US are tax free? Your equities, even long-term, are taxed at a non-zero rate.

I did not include capital gains tax in my calculations, so that could impact on which side things fall, but I suspect it all comes out in wash.

Just to clarify the capital gains you have on the sale of your primary residence isn't tax free. You get the first $250k free for an individual and more for a married couple. This is very generous and better than you get for equity investments for sure, but once your gain exceeds those amounts it is taxed at normal capital gains tax rates.

Are you accounting for the equity you’re building by paying a mortgage vs paying rent?

I did. Where I live you can rent cheaper than a mortgage payment (plus tax and insurance) by about $1000 per month, so owning has an additional $12,000 per year cost based on that alone.

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