[1Old Pro]

Of course a home is an investment. You are paying money not for rent, but building equity. AND, in many cases you can take a tax deduction. AND, you can make it part of estate planning by putting it in a trust. AND, it's a non correlating asset which provides diversification and as such moderates risk

[1Old Pro]

AND, an inflation hedge.

[1Old Pro]

AND, you can borrow against it for additional investments in real estate etc.

[dfwgator]

Plus you use the equity of the house to purchase a bigger house as your family grows.

[Alberta's Child]

You’re overlooking a couple of things:

1. Your primary residence is one of the least diversified and most illiquid assets you can ever own.

2. For your primary residence, the U.S. tax code does not allow you to write off many carrying costs — like depreciation, maintenance/repairs, etc. that you CAN write off if the same property is rented out to a tenant.