The problem with housing, is buying a first home, to save the money paid on rent, and put it into equity in an asset.
If a house costs $50,000 (or $100,000) it is made up of the house and the section. If the section is owned, it adds to the equity, but also to the price.
The house, will depreciate in terms of its value as an asset, but may be worth more;
1. If it is able to be transported to a new site.
2. The cost of building a house increases. This is divided into materials and labour. Therefore, a house may appreciate in vlue if wages increase.
A family will try to buy a house, but paying rent, and buying food etc, may have trouble saving the required amout, especially if having a family means both partners cannot work, and one must stay home to look after the children, or money must be spent on child care.
For this reasom it may be advisabe to make the first home a shared home, in which two families, or a group of friends live.
This would work if both (all) partners had an equal share, and one partner could sell his share to a third party at any time or with on short notice.
Such a house may have five, six or seven bedrooms, and accomodate four adults and four children (with a spare bedroom for guests in the case of a four child family with all having their own bedroom, and four adults sharing two bedrooms) Kitchen, dining lounge, bath and toilet facilities being shared. Such a house could cost $100,000 and be available on 50% equity, meaning each family would have to come up with $25,000 cash, and finance the other $25,000 at 8% or 8.5% interest, the same as paying 4% on a %50,000 loan.
The house could even cost less, as little as 50-80 thousand perhaps, yet still be warm, durable and spacious.