If you live in the house, it hasn't put any money into your pocket, no matter what its valuation is, vis-a-vis what you put into it as a down payment.
You keep talking about "feeling social pressure" and then bashing anyone and everyone who may have a diamond or many... none of whom have told you that YOU MUST BUY THEM. That "pressure" you feel is all in your own mind; it certainly isn't on this thread, except from you.
"If you live in the house, it hasn't put any money into your pocket, no matter what its valuation is, vis-a-vis what you put into it as a down payment."
Now, *that* has to take the cake for the most clueless posts ever. You don't know the first thing about personal finances, do you.
First of all, have you ever heard of a home equity loan? Could that "put money in my pocket"? Secondly, has it not occurred to you that I would have to pay rent if I did not own a home? And let's not even get into tax benefits and retirement.