Yeah, I think people miss this. Generally, the only way to benefit from growth in value of your home is to either downsize or to _die_.
(Also, of course, depending on timescale, doubling may not be that impressive. If you'd put your money in a broad index fund about five years ago, it would also have doubled.)
"Downsize" can simply mean move to a region where the price of homes is less. Our home in Omaha is certainly not smaller in size than the one we left in San Jose.
You conveniently exclude the third option which is to keep working your ass off, build a family with high total income and grow upwards. Your argument only accounts for personal and professional stagnation. Also - you could try dropping this insane San Fran pride linked to your identity and move to another area that is cheaper. The world is full of workarounds if you're not unreasonably vain, vapid, or lazy.
> which is to keep working your ass off, build a family with high total income and grow upwards.
Eh? If you're moving to a _larger_ house (I assume that's what you're talking about here) the last thing you want is house price growth; that would increase the cost delta between the smaller and larger house.
(Also, of course, depending on timescale, doubling may not be that impressive. If you'd put your money in a broad index fund about five years ago, it would also have doubled.)