Yes!

Yes!

Depends on house price range, budget, use and location within the home.

For example, laminate never in a high-end home; hardwood never in a basement.

hardwood wins by a country mile. It lasts
forever, and somehow manages to look great even when it's seen better
days

One month after my buyers took possession of a $1m+ custom home in 1990, they had my hardwood contractor and me over to inspect the "defects" in the red oak. Numerous small indentations, especially in the kitchen. Turns out , it was the spoor of the tiny but hot (are we allowed to say that?) neighbour who came to their opening house party in spike heels.

Next house, she swore would have granite floors.

Gosh, I had red oak floors in my 1936 house in St Louis. And since I was young when I lived there, I did wear high spike heels sometimes. And no, there were not indentations in my red oak floor. Of course, wood was far better quality in 1936 than it has been in the past 30+ years.

I wear heels everyday through our house when going from the kitchen to the mud room in my normal race out the door. 10 years later, no marks on our oak floors. Those must have been some lethal spikes or cheap ones.

Totally depends. A lot of people get pretty "hardwood or nothing!" about this. I think it depends on your personal preference, lifestyle, budget, whether you prefer "change" in 15-20 years, are the type to hire someone to fix things or a do it your-selfer, and so on.

I have had hardwood floors in most of the houses I have lived in over last 40 years - either throughout the entire home or only in the main common living areas. Anywhere from brand new wood floors, to 100+-year old wood floors. While they all had that warmth in feel and appearance, they also, no matter what their age, their species, their colour, pre-finished or site finished, ended up with scratches from creatures (either my own, or of those who lived there before me) and the inconvenience of refinishing them often meant I just did not bother. I had laminate in one rental a few years ago, but been back to hardwood last several years.

I am choosing to go with laminate in my new house instead of hardwood. I am one of those who just has found I am not a "hardwood or nothing!" person. I am more a "what materials are going to serve *me* best in this space" person.

Laminate has come a long way in my opinion. It is important to still pick a good quality laminate as it is not all made alike (neither is hardwood, for that matter). Look for a thickness of at least 10 mm, and also choose a higher rating for increased wear resistance and durability - they can be rated from light foot traffic to heavy commercial use. Find one with a good warranty. Buy a a couple spare boxes as you yourself can easily switch out a damaged piece if you need. We are going with a 12 mm with 27 year residential finish warranty. It has a nice wood grain texture and feels really nice underfoot. Installation is also really important. I have heard some people complain about "clicking" and honestly, I have never experienced that except in the cheapest of homes using the cheapest of laminate, and likely the cheapest of installers (or bad DIY). Depending on the surface you are installing over, you may need an underlay with a moisture barrier, etc, or may choose a higher rated underlay for better sound absorption.

Laminate (and LVP too) is pretty common even in $400,000-$600,000 homes here, but it all depends on the market pricing where you are. My new build is within those numbers, and not a high-end home (not custom, not fancy by any means, and is basically a modified builder's plan) but it is not inexpensive either. My point is, the cost of homes varies from market to market, as do expectations of finishing in various price points. In my market, I would "expect" to see hardwood once you start getting in the higher ranges and above but still then only on the main floors...I would expect to still see carpet or LVP in basement, or second floor. If in your market, homes comparable to your price point are "expected" to have hardwood, then putting in laminate may be off-putting for resale. Or maybe not, as many buyers plan to take out existing floors anyway - even wood ones.

No, laminate may not last "forever" like hardwoods (and you can't refinish them of course), but they are more affordable to replace, and don't involve me moving myself and pets out of house for several days as I have had to do for refinishing hardwoods; laminates can be replaced room by room, or even DIY. We are choosing tile for our "wet" areas like bathrooms and entry ways. We have hardwood in entry, main bath, and kitchen right now. I have never had worries about it in kitchen so far, but I am not fond of it in main bath and entry ways. Water CAN damage hardwoods (I as the space behind our main bath toilet where we had a leak can show), so this idea that hardwoods are impervious to water damage is a little foreign to me. Yes, it can damage laminate too, but laminate is a lot easier and less expensive to replace.

I have friends with 20+ year old laminate that still looks like it was freshly installed last week, despite having kids, dogs, etc.

Wow...too big of a question to answer with any certainty. If you have a house value ($$ vs $$$$$) that can handle the upgrade to hardwood (local realtor listings will indicate which is more prevalent in your price/area range) and you have the budget, then go for hardwood.

If NONE OF THE ABOVE criteria are met...then go with a lovely, high-end laminate that will give you 20 years of excellent service.

When the only question is "should we use laminate or wood", I think a yes or no is all that is required. If the op cannot even give the slightest bit of info then.....................

Only real wood floors will give you a great ROI, especially when it comes time to sell the home.