> A house is only an investment if you can sell it and still have somewhere to live.
Only assuming they can’t downsize or move.
I know plenty of people that bought in a flash suburb, or a family sized home then kids have left home, so they sell up and go cheaper while retaining a lot of equity from the property valuation growth.
Also when people don’t need to work (usually retirement), it is very common for people to leave expensive urban areas and move to cheaper and nicer digs in semi-rural areas. This works especially well if you move countries or return to your birth country.
You are also ignoring the worse situation where a married couple divorce and now need two homes: halving total equity is financially difficult for most people (especially in later decades which leaves little time to catch up again).
Only assuming they can’t downsize or move.
I know plenty of people that bought in a flash suburb, or a family sized home then kids have left home, so they sell up and go cheaper while retaining a lot of equity from the property valuation growth.
Also when people don’t need to work (usually retirement), it is very common for people to leave expensive urban areas and move to cheaper and nicer digs in semi-rural areas. This works especially well if you move countries or return to your birth country.
You are also ignoring the worse situation where a married couple divorce and now need two homes: halving total equity is financially difficult for most people (especially in later decades which leaves little time to catch up again).