Large amounts of leverage are both legal and easily acquired for real estate transactions. Most of the remaining tax shelters in the US are related to real estate see "Full time real estate professional," 1031 exchange, etc.
In reality they are just different asset classes and should be judged on their merits.
I appreciate your use of "a bit" to qualify your statement, but I'll also note that rebalancing towards property in the form of REITs or REIT-like structures makes sense. But on a personal level it may not, since it depends on a) picking the places that'll be important in the future (picking, say, SF or Seattle from 1980 – 2001 was not an obvious bet) and b) depending on a contemporary NIMBY framework to keep more property from being built. Point b is particularly interesting, because Yglesias and others have proposed that height limits, parking minimums, and similar choices should be removed from small governing bodies like cities (where many stakeholders want to limit supply for their own benefit).
Will that happen? From here, the answer looks like "No." But seeing the NIMBY madness and price rises in many coastal cities makes me wonder.
Suddenly Lex Lutor's evil plan from Superman : The movie, makes sense.
This year, we actually dumped our investment account for a sizeable property in an amazing spot (on the waterfront, where the historic district meets the trendy hipster district), with commercial space on the first floor, an apartment on the second floor, and we'll be financing the expansion to a third floor by selling off the other two houses we have.
I'll be living in a new-construction home above a performing arts space that I own outright, paid for by a second floor apartment I'll be renting out, in a high density, urban environment - because my wife and I bought a house when we were 26.
Home ownership was a no-brainer back when people got a job out of high school or college and worked at that job for decades, got regular raises, then retired with a pension. Nowadays though? Job hopping is the only reliable way of increasing one's income, and "right to work" is very common which means you can lose your job one day just because someone decided they no longer want you.
Not to mention the economic downturns. What did we see during the most recent recession? People lost their jobs first, then they lost their houses because they couldn't pay mortgage anymore. Barely six years have passed and yet people are already losing their minds again about home ownership.
Does home ownership have its advantages? Absolutely. Is it the right choice for everyone? Hell no.