As you said both of them are benefiting to the investor. He had the choice to make if he wanted a steady income for years then he needs to know that renting the apartment is the best option for him. If otherwise he prefers a one-time huge payment, which means making his profits immediately after building the apartment finish then that would be going into real estate.
I don't see renting out the apartment as a slow process of recovering money. It's a store of value. Also, remember that not the cost of house increases every day, the value of the land on which the house is built over decades can give you the recovery money.
Apartments are much more needed in urban areas because they have the potential to make a profit.
Renting out an apartment also has a value advantage because people can take the rent. But if they want to make a profit once then they can sell it according to the agreement.
Talking about quick money recovery will be difficult to get unless people dare to take chances in trading or investing in bitcoin but there is a risk involved.
The only thing that is beneficial is that the land price will continue to rise and the building built on the land can be rented out.
So at this stage building a business in this sector can also be profitable.
Regardless of the amount of profit that can be obtained, the potential is still good enough to be pursued.