The $500,000 Category Error: Why Your Home Isn't Actually Appreciating

Homes don't appreciate—land does. Buildings are depreciating assets that age, break, and become obsolete, while land value increases due to scarcity and location advantages. This fundamental confusion distorts housing markets, traps buyers into overvaluing structures, and creates a renovation economy that masks underlying depreciation.

Home buyers evaluating properties, homeowners considering renovations, real estate investors, anyone who believes 'homes always appreciate,' buyers in high-cost markets like Greater Boston, people making long-term housing decisions.

• •Land appreciates due to scarcity and location; buildings depreciate over time
• •Property price increases often reflect land value, not building value
• •Renovation preserves fiction of building appreciation without addressing scarcity
• •Policy systems over-attribute value to structures, discouraging replacement
• •Aging buildings accumulate health and safety risks silently
• •Separating land from structure value enables better policy and investment decisions