It’s not that simple. I choose to rent even though I have the savings to buy a house because I prefer putting my money in more liquid assets like stocks. People can choose to lease certain categories of assets and “own” others (e.g. public stock).
There are tons of hidden costs with ownership like insurance, property taxes, HOA, repairs/maintenance I don’t have to deal with. Plus the opportunity cost of locking $200k+ in an illiquid asset with high transaction fees to eventually liquidate years later isn’t appealing unless you’re buying a home firstly as a permanent home for raising a family and not as an investment.
There are tons of hidden costs with ownership like insurance, property taxes, HOA, repairs/maintenance I don’t have to deal with. Plus the opportunity cost of locking $200k+ in an illiquid asset with high transaction fees to eventually liquidate years later isn’t appealing unless you’re buying a home firstly as a permanent home for raising a family and not as an investment.