The difference here is that you would make 44x from the spare change you can save every month after paying for rent, not from a loan worth >5x your yearly salary.
And if you are your own landlord (ie a homeowner) you can pretend your rent is whatever you want, but the market rent is what one should impute as the value of that rent.
1) Historically they have.
2) Most people in the US that haven't purchased very recently are locked in at very low rates. Only 9% of mortgages are over 6%. 61% of outstanding mortages are <4% [0].
3) There are a lot of incentives (and the ability) for governments to ensure home prices continue to increase, although at a rate lower than they are now.
4) We spent over a year with inflation that is double most people's mortgage rates.
5) You have to live somewhere regardless; the alternative is renting. For most of the country, at least until very recently, that was a worse option.
[0] https://apolloacademy.com/the-distribution-of-mortgage-inter...