So what do you suggest people do? Never buy homes?
No, not at all. Just look at your house like you would your car. Cars are NOT an investment, they are a consumable just like a house. Houses don't produce anything.
The word "investment" has lost it's meaning. An investment is saving some of the seed of the harvest for next year's crop. It's putting money into a college eduction. Saving money to start your own business. Investing in a company or loaning money to a company to give that company the capital it needs to grow and expand the business and hopefully grow revenues and profits as well.
If you do buy a house, you shouldn't be getting an interest only mortgage. Put enough money down 10-20% so that you can have some sort of a cushion in case you need to sell. Don't buy in a market (CA, FL, NY, VA, MD) where renting the same house is half of what the mortgage payment is.
Don't buy a property because you'll think it'll go up in value. If it has gone up when you need/want to sell, great. But don't have that (unreasonable) expectation.