[oinopion]

Most of my friends (in Poland) spend monthly less for mortgage than they would on rent. It seams that housing/mortgage market here is very different.

[gaius]

Same here in England. If you have the deposit and plan to stay for a few years, then buying makes economic sense.

Plus, owning your own home, even if there's a mortgage outstanding, feels very different to renting. Certainly for the English, home-ownership is a cultural value.

[philwelch]

It's a cultural value to Americans, too. That's how we got into a bubble and then a recession--it was such a cultural value people tried to become homeowners even if it made no financial sense at all.