It used to make sense depending on your area and intended time you were going to rent for. This assumed that rent was significantly less than a mortgage and you were able to save or invest at least some of the difference. That gap has long since evaporated in desirable areas. In many cases, rent is as much as a mortgage. The problem here is that it prevents people from saving for a down payment (which alone could buy a home twenty years ago), and even if they could, homes are being snapped up with all cash offers from investors or corporations... So they can be rented at a profit. It's insane.