You seem to make the assumption that everyone who has the extra cash is going to prudently sock it away. The reality is that in a credit card society most people would not be a prudent with the additonal money they have. Therefore homeownership creates a forced saving for many people. Now I know that many will argue that Equity lines and other tools can be tapped into against the home but I would argue there are more who buy homes in the hopes of simply paying them off and being debt free.
Bingo. This “leakage” is always underestimated
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