[sigmaprimus]

You have to live somewhere, unless you are living for free with relatives your probably paying rent right now.

With mortgage rates as low as they are right now, chances are your paying more in rent than you would paying off a mortgage.

So it's really how you look at it, I see it like you have two choices, pay someone else's mortgage by renting or pay your own.

[bvandewalle]

This is a common fallacy. Lower mortgage rates mean that houses are more expensive as other bidders are able to qualify for the same mortgage rates. There is actually quite a lot of papers showing that it's better to buy at a high mortgage rate and refinance down the road.

As for your other comment, renting or paying a mortgage is a cost/benefit analysis that is way more complicated than "paying someone else's mortgage". If you live in a desirable locale (Bay Area, Seattle), the Buy/rent ratio means that at this point you are most probably ahead by renting and investing the difference in the stock market.