This is another aspect that should be considered and that is a huge plus in favor of buying. Because of inflation the cost of the mortgage will go down and after 30yrs it will be a lot cheaper. As a practical example, my family purchased a house 20yrs ago. At that time we payed the equivalent of $600 which was quite expensive. Today it's just nothing while the house itself gained a lot in value.
Inflation and taxes are easily forgotten when making financial decisions; but they are the two biggest advantages of owning vs renting, at least in the U.S.
Short-term cash flow is not a smart way to evaluate rent vs own.
The proper comparison should be the difference between rent payment and mortgage payment invested in S&P 500 30 years ago, not the difference just sitting there and earning 0%.
What about the aspect of being able to move without having to worry about whether you can sell you home or not? I believe what made things worse after the economy soured was that unemployed people stuck. Even unhappy people were stuck in jobs they didn't like/enjoy because they couldn't move to another part of the country (or state). One must not forget about opportunity costs in buying vs renting.
