Maybe. But, renting costs more than owning these days. In the RTP of NC, for example, rents run almost twice as much for a third less to half as much square footage.

My son is right now looking at apartments. Rents for 800 or 900 square feet is twice what our mortgage with escrow is for almost 1300 square feet. Plus, we have a garage and yard, and no prohibitions on pets. He'd be parking in assigned spaces or on the street, and not allowed to have pets (or required to pay additional pet-rent). Really, his only advantage would be 10 or 15 minutes closer to work and public transporation.

Also, when you rent, you are funding someone else's real wealth acquistion by paying for their property.