Oh yeah, sure, I'll buy a shitty house an hour away from where I work, in a small village with not even a grocery store! Good idea! And then I'll be stuck there for the rest of my life because you can't sell houses in these places, because they are shitty!

Buying a house or apartment is a several decades investment. If you're settled in your life, sure, do that, but not everyone is in this case, and not everyone in this case can afford it.

BTW, so you know banks will not give you money these days? Half the requests are refused by banks in France these days because they're waiting for the yields to increase again.