Canada

This is a bit of a fallacy. In a normal market, the rent for a home is less than the costs of home ownership (mortgage + maintenance + taxes) and that saved money can be used to purchase other assets.

Until the real estate mania of the last few years, if you followed this strategy, you would not be any worse off than the person who bought their home.

I personally would much rather have equity in more fungible assets than a home. Owning a home ties you to a specific location, and can't easily be sold in an emergency. Plus it's not a very diverse portfolio if most of you wealth is in a single property

If you can find such an asset for a fair price, then it might be a good investment, but that’s like hitting the lottery at the end of a bubble. There’s no guarantee your asset will rise in value or even just stay the same. It also depends on one’s financial situation. I pay about 15% of my net income on rent for nice flat in a modern building from 2021. If I could have the same living standard with a mortgaged asset for the same 15% of my net monthly income, I would consider buying, but it’s impossible even if I’d put down 25% cash upfront. House prices are crazy in Europe, I heard it’s due to all kinds of shady organisations like the Russian Mafia parking and washing their money here.