There are also tax benefits to the mortgage route.
* historically low interest rates in the last ten years means the actual amount of interest you're paying each month vs principle is not that high.
* Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the amount of property tax deductions that were typically available in HCOL blue states like NY and California.
* Standard deduction increase (also part of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) was increased so high that many would be now be better off not even bothering to itemize deductions, even if they had a mortgage.
When I was thinking of buying in about 2017, I did the math, and due to the low interest rates and the lack of any other deductions, neither mortgage interest nor state property taxes would have been high enough to offset the standard deduction. In effect, not a single tax advantage would be available to me with buying a house vs just continuing to rent.
Honestly, the tax cuts really benefit people in this situation. Your effective tax rate is much lower than before and although you only get a piece of the property/income tax write-offs, it might make for lower effective taxes.
In terms of buying VS renting, although I bought a home I still think renting makes a whole lot of sense for a lot of people. Buying a home is expensive in terms of furnishing it, customizing it, etc. But also in selling it and related expenses.
Imagine your home can be sold for 900k. Around 6% ($54k) of that is going to be taken away from an agent. You'll probably be buying a new home so you have to factor in closing costs for the new mortgage, assume $15k and then moving expenses, etc and you're looking at $75k-$80k. So unless your home has appreciated to cover these costs, you're losing potentially significant money. A renter doesn't have to face this at all and likely pays less in rent than the mortgage and property taxes would be.
Buying a home makes sense if you plan on living in it 10 years or more in many cases I believe. By then you'll likely get back anything you've put into it and have built decent equity. The best part of buying is that as time goes on, your monthly payment begins to look like a bargain as rents and home prices continue to rise - once again, about 10 years in.