When you buy a house, you're essentially locking in your housing costs, which can be especially advantageous if you have a fixed-rate mortgage. Rent, on the other hand, can increase over time. My monthly mortgage payment for a house is already several hundreds less than what my friends are paying for their tiny rental apartments. In about 17 years, my house will be paid off, and then I'll only have maintenance and utility bills remaining, while my friends will still be paying rent, which probably has increased by quite a lot by that time. I don't need to sell my house to benefit from investing into it.