Renting is often more expensive monthly than owning a home. Obviously this differs by area, but particularly as you get out of the city, homes get downright inexpensive.
I don't think this is true at the moment (with interest rates) or in cities, as a rule. A 2-bedroom apartment rents for $3K but sells for $1M+ where I live in the Boston area, so a mortgage payment would be at least double our rent :(
I'm at the point where I very much want to own a home - emotionally - but it's hard to justify financially.
In a lot of cities, new housing development is deliberately surpressed, which in turn causes rent to skyrocket. In other areas, where land is still cheap, its very often cheaper (in the long run, maybe 10-20 years) to just get a mortgage to buy or build a house because newer housing stock is still being put into the system to which helps regulate the max price landlords can get away with before people just start building their own homes or buying new one from developers.