The original subject “throwing your money away on rent” is still a falacy, in that the renter gets a place to live for a month.
The rent vs. buy decision is an ongoing discussion topic with many considerations beyond the simple one of mortgage payment vs. rent, including:
1. Tax ramifications
2. Appreciation/depreciation probabilities
3. Freedom to move
4. Pride of ownership
5. Freedom to alter/modify home
6. Cost of plumbing/el/AC/WH/roof etc. repairs & replacements (widely underestimated)
7. Opportunity cost of equity
8. Your guess of interest rate direction
One could list more, but this shows the decision is more personal and more complicated than it first appears.
Most of the posts here selectively pick the dates they use to justify their foregone conclusion. As TG shows, its all about timing. We can say with the evidence now available, that ON AVERAGE, anyone who bought before about 2002 has probably broken even pricewise. This means those who bought between 2002 and last month are behind. At the rate prices are still falling, breakeven may be back to 1999 or 1998 before we hit bottom–who knows? But the group losing or breaking even is rapidly growing in size, and may soon constitute a majority of current homeowners.
