If you buy, even if temporary, you get all your money back, sometimes more, sometimes less, but you always get some.
I lived most of my early adult life renting and I can tell you this, more than $100K wasted and no way at all to get one cent back.
Here's an article that explores this argument: http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/real-estate/renti...
Basically, take the "never rent" piece of advice with the same amount of skepticism that you would any other piece of advice that begins with "never."
Summary: average annualized return on investment on owning a home barely beats inflation, dating back way, and that's including the boom times.
Average return on investing in businesses (i.e. the stock market, your own startup), is a much better place to put your money.
Not saying there is no reason to buy a house, there are plenty. But never say never.
price to own = price to rent + speculative ownership premium + transaction costs
An additional problem with owning is that your investments are bound to your living situation. Orthogonality is good. I can change my living situation without even thinking about my investments.
If you have to borrow money, then you have to pay something akin to rent, except you pay it on the money borrowed, not the property itself. Second, under standard mortgage amortization schedules, nearly all of your early payments go toward interest (and by corollary, very little goes toward principal).
Length of ownership, prevailing interest rates, and potential maintenance costs should all be factored into a home-buying decision. It is far from obvious that owning is better than renting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/business/2007_BUYRENT_GRAP...