Personally i think a house you live in is a liability rather than an asset, it costs money, ties up a hell of a lot of capital and these days is a gamble on whether you'll get your initial investment back again.

I would tend to agree with that.

This being said, investing in real estate is the only way for a regular person to achieve a high leverage ratio, which is probably why people see it as such a good investment.

Joe Sixpack can also have high leverage through options contracts.

Not really an investment. See: http://thezikomoletter.com/2012/12/10/you-are-naturally-shor...