* Insurance and tax increases: real and you have to deal with them, but they don't go up as fast as rent does. Advantage: owning
* HOA fees: don't buy an HOA home, problem solved. You should do that anyway just because HOAs suck ass.
* Down payment: not a real cost, that money is yours in the form of equity
* Closing costs and other fees: real but completely negligible when amortized over the life of the home.
* Repairs: real, and they suck. This is the only place renting can stack up superior, but you can do a lot to mitigate this by doing your due diligence up front and not buying a dud house. Overall, unless you get unlucky you should come out ahead, but you can lose the die roll.
* Realtor costs: greatly depends. When we bought our house we paid zero, because the seller pays the buyer's costs. This can be a serious cost if you're changing houses a lot, but... just don't do that (for multiple reasons).
Overall, after buying my house 7 years ago I'm coming out ahead month over month (thanks to rent going up like clockwork every year, while my mortgage has stayed the same). By the time I die, I will be significantly ahead, and that's not even taking into account unrealized gains in the value of the property. Which I don't count for much, because my home is a place to live and not an investment vehicle. But maybe someday it'll do me good, or my heirs.
Owning a home really is a great deal for the vast majority of people in the US. It's not some society wide conspiracy, it's not an ad to get others into the market so you can benefit, it's the truth.