Want to start a business with that money? Better have a rock solid business plan. Investing elsewhere? No chance, a bank won't lone that money for you to play with on the stock market, and the rate you would get would wipe out any gains from something safer like a tracker fund.
For anyone that is not content living in the same area for the rest of their life buying is a poor decision. But it is the only way most people can access a loan that size and leverage in that way.
I've resigned myself to the fact you have to buy (in my country at least), and I will just make sure it can be rented easily when I want to move.
Some European countries are much more renter friendly and I would consider renting exclusively there. Germany and Berlin seem more appealing in that regard with the rent control that was put into place recently.