I don't know about over there, but over here the cost of renting is often more expensive than buying, so the whole mind set of spending money now doesn't really fit as well. I think a lot of it probably depends on the area you live in. The big cities on the coast are much more expensive than where I live.
They sometimes release the numbers on which is better at the time, but the difference is that ´buying is for a length of time and I reckon that most of the time, it is better to own. So, over the space of a few decades, it is on average better, plus at the end of that period, there is held value. Renting is rarely the way to go, unless it can be offset as a tax write-off, like for a business.
Good points! I only rented for as long as I had to when I first moved out of my parents house.