Housing is generally not great financial investment but there are points in time where the market gets severely disrupted and buying/financing at those points can generate considerable value. In our case:
House 1 - bought at the bottom of the market in 2011 with minimum down (3%). That house became 2x quickly and picked up steam again during Covid. Its now holding that elevated value. Even without selling, this is a good investment for us because we refinanced at 2.x% and our monthly costs (inclusive of taxes and insurance) is well under market rental value. This is our primary residence so we save $$ on rent every month
House 2 - bought late 2019 the coastal bay area market (10% down). At the time we bought it, rent and mortgage in that market was even. Then we refinanced during Covid at 2.x%, and values shot up 50%. Now, we rent it out and we net 1k every month so this is a cash flowing investment
In both scenarios, we had no way of forecasting a 2.x% mortgage for either house, and we benefitted from the bottom of the market for the 1st and the Covid induced boom for the 2nd.
I would buy neither house at current market value.