It's the same with homes. But as you say, at least real estate tends to hold it's value somewhat.
Expensive land usually does appreciate (in some areas, only until interest rates go up?), but the house on the land is a money pit.
I'm not here to pass moral judgments on this method of creating wealth, although to me unnecessary mineral extraction for energy is largely fraught with moral hazard. But to say that real estate isn't an investment is to consider the past two centuries of American economic growth to be a temporary aberration, and I don't think you can do that in light of the degree of economic reliance that has grown up around it.
You can just show up and buy the thing and use your skills to improve the thing, which improves everything else around it.
There is enormous financial leverage if you can do that, because most people aren't willing to put in the work.