just to expand on my earlier post, over the years, i've came to the conclusions that it ultimately depends on your needs but generally, i think that if you have a spouse and multiple children, you might be better off with a house.
if you're single, you might as well get an apartment and take the extra cash from lower rent vs mortgage + taxes +costs of maintenance, take all that cash and invest it. the key word is discipline. you actually have to take all these savings and invest them (something most people don't do). the flip side to that is, buying a house when you can barely afford it puts you in a dangerous situation. once you have a mortgage, you gotta make those payments. if you don't you could be fukked. if you solely depend on your job to make those payments, you're pretty much stuck at that job until you find a better one (which has to be close enough to your house). get a divorce, chances are you'll get fukked (male or female, either way). sure, you could sell but who's to say it's gonna be the right timing for the market? then you're fukked again. but i'm not gonna go as far as saying buying is not the way to go. if you find a super good deal and are good at renovations, you might come out ahead by buying. there's no right answer. it depends on your circumstances, the market, your personal needs and goals and how much flexibility you need.