[makomk]

One thing you're not considering is that buying a home ties you down to a particular area. With the jobs market the way it is, jobs for life a mythical thing for most people, and major structural shifts in employment, buying a house is not really an option for most people. Also, I'm not sure there's that much credit availability for consumers wanting a mortgage and it'd certainly involve a major upfront deposit.

[philipdlang]

That's a valid point and I'll follow up with a future post about the economics of buying, but to realize a return on a home you need a time horizon of 5 years. With the shift to more urban life, I don't think that 5 years is an unrealistic amount of time to live in one place. In major metropolitan areas, there are often plenty of alternative jobs available and people tend to be tied down due to family obligations.

[makomk]

That's all well and good until you lose your job during a dip in the housing market and no-one is buying - for example, due to a major recession.