By and large, I agree with you. Especially if you are single, owning real estate represents a massive commitment, both financial and to the local place, that nobody forced you to take. People need to remember that the default for real estate is to fall into disrepair and turn back into the dust of the earth; as someone who owns real estate, you are responsible for fighting that entropy, as is everyone else in your neighborhood, as living in the only well-maintained house on a block full of abandoned blight isn't going to rescue your property value.

With that said, sometimes you want to make that commitment, because it's a socially good choice, rather than a financially good choice. Children need stability. Moving houses, neighborhoods, schools is not good for them. Good parents make sacrifices for their children, including staying in jobs where they might make a little less compared to Yet Another Move.

For most families who want to provide stability for their children, the choice is between purchasing a house, or a long-term rental of an apartment owned by a public housing authority that is bound by law or regulation to keep rent increases down and renters in-place, so long as they continue to pay their rent. In the US, most people do not have access to the latter, or the latter are only found in bad neighborhoods where the public housing authority was underfunded and mismanaged. That leaves purchasing real estate as the only option.