The risk involved in getting a 1400% return in 2 months isn't comparable to the risk involved in purchasing investment property. It might go down in value, but it's not likely to depreciate much. The kind of stocks that jump 14X in two months typically also drop to 0 in two months.

Where I live, to get an apples-to-apples comparison (w/ regard to standard of living) you'd need to compare a small house (possibly in a posh area of town, possibly not) to a fairly large two or three bedroom apartment. When I used to rent, I was paying $1150/mo for a "luxury" two-bedroom apartment in a "somewhat inconvenient" part of town. My house payement is larger than that now, but my house is also bigger, I'm building equity and it's appreciating.

The author's point isn't so much "house vs. renting: which is a better long-term investment"- clearly he's interested in living simply, being eco-friendly, being able to live extremely close to where he works, etc.