[pureliquidhw]

Housing prices don't change (much) after you buy. Rent is at the mercy of your landlord and the market. Here in metro Milwaukee rents are up 30% since I bought a house, but my mortgage/taxes/insurance is up 1% (I pay $18/mo more now in taxes).

My home value has skyrocketed as well, but so has every other home. However, the growth cancels out, I get my home's growth as a sort of discount were I to sell and buy another home. It's called the housing ladder and is key to preserving wealth as your housing needs change and the market gets more expensive.

Your example works in shorter time frames, buying vs renting in a given year or 3. But over the long haul I've only regretted thinking like that in my 20s and not just snatching up a home and land.

It's easier to make a person who will need a house than it is to build a house, and it's extremely difficult to make more land to put a house on.

Edit: grammar/clarity