I never said it was. I also never said that no one should buy houses.
Everyone is in a different situation in life but this all started cause a guy got laughed at for renting.
There seems to be this arrogance from home owners towards renters, its quite hilarious at times, yet a lot of the time its done by people who have no idea what level of debt they're even in, how long it will take them to pay it off, what it truly costs at the end or that perhaps it might even go south.
I was one of the ones laughing at OP, but it was more trolling a common troll.
He was asking about solving a parking problem -- which people are likely to have at any apartment building or condo -- and he got an answer he didn't like; buy a house with a garage. I don't have any other suggestions for a guy who is breaking the rules at a property he doesn't own.
I've been listening to 'the housing market is going to crash' for 10 years now. Buddies of mine put off buying a place because they thought if they waited they would get it cheaper. Then they got married, had kids, and then decided they needed a house and paid a lot more had they not waited.
There are alternatives to buying a $900k bungalow in Toronto. I live in a freehold semi -- link detached, only the garage is attached. I have no condo fees, I have a garage, and my purchase price was less than 1/2 of your examples. Even if the market crashed, I doubt we'd be hit hard in the GTA. London, Kitchener, Kingston, etc, might all be hit hard, but the GTA is where the jobs are and where the immigrants settle and bring their money -- and there is a lot of Chinese money coming this way. And even then, I just wouldn't sell. My house is over 1/2 paid for already (3 years since purchase), and I bought way lower than my finances allowed as I didn't want to be house poor. I got a long mortgage because I could -- and am now paying double the mortgage rate to pay it down faster.
Do houses cost money? Sure... I have put a patio door, front door, furnace, a few windows, and a garage door in my place. I also finished the basement and added a washroom. It is well worth it though. I have owned a condo, and I have rented before, and I have never been happier than now -- with my own workshop, my own garage for my two bikes, my own large deck with bbq, my fenced in yard with a shed, etc...
If you are happy renting or in a condo, so be it. I was not happy so I moved on.