Not saying it's risk free, but smart real estate investments can crush stock market returns precisely due to that massive leverage
What I'm fearful about is that the large majority of mortgage buyers don't see it as a 10x leveraged investment, nor do they understand how badly the amplified price fluctuations of a 10x leveraged investment could hit them if there was even a tiny dip in the price of their homes, let alone another housing crisis like 2007.