Curtis, thanks for reading and for your comment. Yes, appreciation is on the full value, not just the down payment. The math I went through includes this. That works great for investment properties where tenants pay the bills, but results in a poor return on buying a primary residence because of all the money required to maintain it. Buying a home can be a good financial decision because it is often less bad than renting, but it is not investing any more than putting money into a savings account is investing. Lots of benefits of money in a savings account too, but we can't call it investing, can we? Too many families, in my opinion (and I used to be one), put all their excess money into their primary residence because they falsely believe they are investing. This does not build wealth at any useful rate. Keep your living expenses low and invest as much as possible into actual investments like rental houses or low-cost index funds, and you will be much better off.