@Dante1969: Thank you for a measured response. I imagine what you are describing DOES feel great. I'm glad it is clearer that there are a lot of rip-off scenarios today. Home ownership the last many years has been far less available than it was for decades preceding it. Some people like to somehow pretend these conditions indicate a character flaw among younger people, as if it's impossible that times could be tougher now than in 1981, 1992, etc. 

Apples-to-apples, the carrying costs for my young family to live in the nice detached place we occupy in a good neighborhood would be >2x the rent we pay. I don't love renting, but choosing this scenario reduces our commutes (i.e. more family time), puts my kids in better schools, gives us the capacity to save a ton (diversely invested), etc. If we bought a place for the same cash outlay as our rent, it would be much smaller, add >1 in daily commuting, and kill flexibility.