Almost everyone I know has a significant portion of their wealth in home equity. The renters I know tend to have much lower wealth. This is reflected broadly in the US wealth distribution.

You brought up a good point though, and that’s the trap of being house poor. Too many owners fail to look / have not been taught to factor local property taxes and maintenance costs into their homes. My network definitely has people caught unaware by escrow shortages, siding costs, roof costs, HVAC stack costs.

Despite it all, US homeowners seem to edge out renters, but it doesn’t have to be causative, either.

https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/AS...

It is way better to be house poor than to be a renter, because at least the house is generally an appreciating asset