$100,000 put down on a $500,000 Nantucket home in 1995 would have produced more than $3 million in equity after mortgage payments by 2025, the HousingWire leader argued, challenging a Bloomberg op-ed's claim that houses are no longer the best place for money.
The rebuttal says the op-ed used the wrong comparison by matching a full $500,000 home purchase against a $500,000 S&P 500 investment, when most buyers finance homes and should compare the down payment instead.
On that basis, the same $100,000 invested in the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested would have grown to about $2.5 million, versus a home value rising to roughly $4 million and still leaving more than $3 million after principal-and-interest payments.
Nantucket's nearly $4 million median home value also makes it a poor benchmark for broad claims about U.S. homeownership, the piece argues, likening it to using Amazon stock to represent all equities.
Beyond returns, the HousingWire leader says a home should be viewed first as shelter offering stability, privacy and community, while warning that flawed comparisons could discourage buyers and distort views of homeownership's role in household wealth.